Presidential Polling.
A recent Quinnipac poll shows that Sen. Joe Lieberman (D.-Conn.) has the most support from Democratic voters nationwide (21%), followed closely by Rep. Dick Gephardt (Mo.), Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) and Howard Dean. But, as usual, if Hillary's name is thrown into the ring, she wins an astounding 48% of Democrats, compared to just 11% for Lieberman and the others in single digits. The same poll also found that 50% of Americans would vote for President Bush in 2004 against Hillary, who garnered 43%. Although she lost by seven points in the poll, she still did better than any other Democratic candidate in a presumed match for the 2004 presidency.
Ready to Spend in 2004.
Speaking of next year's elections, Hillary and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have formed a fundraising organization designed to raise money for the party's efforts in the 2004 election, reports Roll Call. The "Clinton-DSCC Victory Fund" was established on July 10 and is a joint fundraising committee. The Democrats have set up six other such committees, but this is the only one in conjunction with a senator not up for re-election in 2004. The fundraising setup allows donors to write a single large check, which is then divided up between Sen. Clinton's campaign committee, "Friends of Hillary," and the DSCC. Most importantly, the new committee now has access to the huge national database of donors that helped Mrs. Clinton raise more than $40 million for her New York Senate race in 2000.
Too Bad For Them.
As sales for Living History continue to slow, Simon & Schuster announced plans to reduce the number of its new titles each year and to lay off about 5% of its global work force. Maybe Hillary, as defender of the poor, wouldn't mind shelling out some of her $8 million payday to the former Simon & Schuster employees and their families.
Clinton the Conspirator.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Bill Clinton paramour Gennifer Flowers may proceed with a lawsuit that accuses Sen. Clinton "of conspiring" with ex-presidential aides James Carville and George Stephanopoulos "to defame her" during the 1992 presidential election campaign. Back then, a supermarket tabloid wrote that candidate Clinton and Flowers had an affair while he was governor of Arkansas. When Mr. Clinton denied it, Flowers held a news conference to play audio tapes she said were of secretly recorded intimate phone calls between them. Carville and Stephanopoulos said that Flowers had doctored the tapes, and Stephanopoulos later repeated that allegation in a book. Nearly three years ago, U.S. District Court Judge Philip Pro dismissed Flowers' lawsuit, but the case was reinstated back in November 2002. The suit's claims include defamation, false light and conspiracy. In the order entered just last week, the court granted a motion by Sen. Clinton to dismiss the defamation and false light claims against her, but allowed the conspiracy claim to proceed against Hillary and the ex-aides. The order said Flowers "has made no allegation" that Sen. Clinton "made any false statements about her," but that Carville and Stephanopoulos acted as the "instrumentality" of Hillary. Judicial Watch, a conservative group representing Flowers, said Wednesday it will seek the senator's testimony in the case. The group's president said that "Ms. Flowers is quite pleased that she finally has the opportunity to hold Ms. Clinton and her minions Carville and Stephanopoulos accountable in court.... Ms. Flowers has been significantly damaged by their 'smear machine' and is anxious for justice."
Presidential Talk.
Sen. Clinton told BBC radio recently that she hoped her country would elect a female leader during her lifetime, and insisted that her whirlwind book tour was not designed to promote her hopes for the White House in 2004. But Hillary wasn't as unequivocal about 2008. "2008 is an eternity in American politics but I think that the role I'm playing-trying to bring attention to issues, trying to get people to focus on what's at stake-is a very appropriate role for me," she said. For what it's worth, the first lady of France, Bernadette Chirac, says that she supports a presidential run by Hillary, saying that her candidacy would be "an inspiration to women worldwide." Mrs. Chirac also said, "There are a lot of women who hope one day she'll run for the presidency of the United States and that she'll win," and that it will spur women "across the whole world to engage in politics."
