She may be waiting until 2008 to run for President, but there is no doubt who is dearest to the hearts of Democrats. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) elicits Democrats' deepest affections-and lots of their dollars. So reports Fortune magazine in its December 8 issue.
The article, "Love her or hate her, Clinton's dollars are driving the Democrats" by Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, says, "The junior senator from New York is the rock star of the Democratic Party. Her fans may not stampede or faint at her sight, but they pay lots of money to be in her presence. . . . She sells out every fundraiser she headlines, and it's largely because of her efforts that for the first time in memory the Senate Democrats' campaign committee has collected nearly as much money as the Republicans' committee."
Hillary, who is up for re-election to the Senate in 2006, has two main political fund-raising organs, Friends of Hillary and Hillpac. The latter is a leadership PAC, and it outdoes the Democratic leaders' own leadership PACs. "During the past three years, according to PoliticalMoneyLine.com, Hillpac has collected over $4 million; that's more than the leadership PACs of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi ($2.2 million) and Senate leader Tom Daschle ($3.7 million)," reports Fortune.
Hillary also uses her $2.8-million home, named Whitehaven, in Washington, D.C., for fund-raising events on behalf of sundry Democratic politicians and candidates from around the country. "The house has become the Democrats' Fundraising Central, replacing the Georgetown mansion of the late Pamela Harriman," says Birnbaum.
Said Sen. Mark Dayton (D.-Minn.): "She's bigger than the other 99 of us combined."
