Money Where Her Mouth Is.
Roll Call reports that Hillary raised $1.8 million from April 1-June 30, which is more than double the amount raised by any of the other 31 senators up for re-election in 2006. At the recent Democratic National Convention, Sen. Clinton told reporters that she "would raise whatever money I need to raise" to fend off any potential challengers. One of her advisors, Howard Wolfson, noted that Mrs. Clinton's race "is coming up in the next cycle, and national Republicans are already making clear that they intend to target her." At this point, however, neither of the potential candidates at the top of the GOP's wish list, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New York Gov. George Pataki, seems interested in the race. For now, no GOP heavyweight has thrown his hat into the ring. Since 2001, Hillary has raised nearly $9 million through her Friends of Hillary campaign committee, second only to the almost $10 million raised by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D.-Wash.), who is trying to pay off a huge personal debt. Illinois to NY, Maryland to Illinois.
Much has been made about the candidacy of Alan Keyes, a Marylander who will be moving to Illinois in order to run for that state's Senate seat. Keyes, of course, had roundly criticized Hillary for her carpetbagging candidacy in New York in 2000, a fact that hasn't been lost on liberal (and some conservative) pundits. Four years ago, Keyes said, "I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness to go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there. So I certainly wouldn't imitate it." This week, he explained that he "was criticizing Hillary for not having proper respect for state sovereignty. . . and I still believe it's wrong for national figures to use the states as platforms for their personal ambition." There is an additional bit of irony in that Keyes is now running in the state in which Hillary was born and raised. Get Rummy.
When Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee to answer questions about reform of our intelligence apparatus and the war on terror, he was met by an aggressive and inquisitive Sen. Clinton. She questioned him about claims that the Bush Administration missed a chance to kill Osama bin Laden before the 9/11 attacks, and asked the secretary to explain the failure to 9/11 victims' families. Specifically, she referred to the 9/11 Commission Report citing the administration's alleged failure to arm Predator drones, and testimony earlier in the day from 9/11 family spokeswoman Kristin Breitweiser, who said that "al-Qaeda was already here in the United States, lying in wait, fully embedded and prepared to kill 3,000 innocent people," as the administration quibbled over spending and other responsibilities. But since Hillary is the second-lowest ranking member of the Committee, by the time she was able to finally pose her question to Rumsfeld, time ran out on the hearing before the secretary had a chance to respond to her question. She did not refer to various citations in the 9/11 Commission Report indicating that her husband's administration also had several "missed opportunities" to stop the planning of the terrorist attacks. Book Launch.
Hillary recently appeared in New York City to help her legislative mentor, Sen. Robert ("King of Pork") Byrd (D.-W.Va.), launch his new book, Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency. Needless to say, the book is highly critical of the Bush Administration, and Hillary was proud to lend her support, saying, "I couldn't miss this opportunity to welcome and thank Sen. Byrd." She called the erratic West Virginia senator and former Klansmen "a teacher and a guide as well as a dear friend." Tonken About Jail.
A one-time fundraiser for Hillary was recently convicted and sentenced to more than five years in federal prison. Hollywood fundraiser Aaron Tonken was busted for defrauding donors and underwriters of star-studded charity galas he organized. The 38-year-old con artist was also ordered to pay nearly $4 million in restitution. It will be remembered that Tonken's highest-profile gala was a fundraiser honoring President Clinton on the eve of the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles in 2000. Proceeds from that event went to Hillary's campaign for the U.S. Senate.
