Turkey Day in Iraq.
Hillary visited Iraq and Afghanistan to share a Thanksgiving meal with New York Army troops and assess conditions in Iraq. She was joined by Sen. Jack Reed (D. R.I.), the ranking Democratic member on the Armed Services Committee’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee. Both Hillary and Reed voted for the Iraq war resolution and to give President Bush $87.5 billion for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, although both have griped occasionally about the administration's current handling of Iraq.
In Afghanistan, the two senators were to share a Thanksgiving meal with members of the 10th Mountain Division based in Fort Drum, N.Y, and in Iraq, they were to meet with troops from the 4th Infantry Division. Hillary's press secretary said that the trip was in the planning for weeks, and that she had reached out to other Armed Services Committee members but found none willing to make the trip. Before she left, Senate Intelligence committee chairman and Armed Services Committee member Pat Roberts (R.-Kan.) urged Sen. Clinton, who as a former First Lady has Secret Service protection, not to go on the trip for safety reasons. He told her, "Don't do that," but Hillary pulled him aside and said: "Let's not talk about that right now." Coincidentally, a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll found that more Americans would rather have Thanksgiving dinner with President George W. Bush than Sen. Clinton. The poll revealed that 45% would choose to sit down with Mr. Bush for Thanksgiving this weekend, while 35% would rather share a turkey with the former First Lady.
Off the Hook.
The Federal Elections Commission dismissed a complaint accusing Democratic fund-raiser Denise Rich of donating campaign money and furniture to Hillary in exchange for President Clinton's pardon of Rich's ex-husband, fugitive billionaire Marc Rich. Mrs. Rich had been accused of making excessive donations to Mrs. Clinton's 2000 New York Senate campaign totaling at least $70,000 and of giving her furniture worth $7,375 in return for the President's pardon of Mr. Rich. However, FEC lawyers said it appeared Denise Rich's contributions were legal, because they included $2,000 to Hillary's campaign ($1,000 for the primary and $1,000 for the general election) and $70,000 to the New York Senate 2000's soft money account, which wasn't subject to the law's donation limits. The commission lawyers also said that "the allegations that the Clintons, Rich and others were involved in exchanging money or political support for pardons amounted to bribery allegations that the FEC has no jurisdiction to handle." The final vote was 6 to 0 in finding that no campaign finance laws were broken in the matter and to dismiss the complaint.
Busy Raising Money Hand-Over-Fist.
Hillary's recent appearance at the Democratic fundraiser in Iowa was the 127th fundraiser she has either headlined or attended for other candidates or political committees since joining the Senate in 2001, according to her campaign committee. It was also the 45th fundraiser she has attended outside New York and Washington. A computer analysis of federal records and data from Sen. Clinton's campaign office also shows that in the past three years, HILLPAC has given $1.66 million to Democratic candidates and causes, which is $337,811 more than she had on hand as of September 30 for a possible 2006 bid for re-election to the Senate. She has attended fund-raisers in 25 states and given money to Democrats in 15 other states. Of course, Hillary and her spokespeople claim that her gift-giving generosity is all about her duty as a loyal Democrat and not about making friends for a possible 2008 presidential bid. Hillary says that "from my perspective, it would really help New York if we elected more Democrats to the Senate and the House, so I am going to do all that I can to support Democratic candidates." She also claims that attending all these fundraisers doesn't interfere with her official duties as New York's junior senator. Still, the doubts persist as to her intentions. "I'm assuming that she's on for 2008," said Larry J. Sabato, head of the Institute of Politics at the University of Virginia. "There's a long list of people who've won presidential nominations by collecting an enormous number of chits nationwide, and that appears to be exactly what she's doing." For example, in 1966, Richard Nixon helped the national GOP and various candidates with fundraising and electioneering and in two years he was the party's nominee and the nation's 37th President.
