In US politics, where money can mean the difference between winning and losing, Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton is in a fundraising class of her own. The former First Lady, current New York senator and 2008 presidential hopeful has amassed a huge war chest for a tilt at the White House.
The money, as much as the Clinton name, gives her unrivalled front-runner status for the Democratic nomination and has allowed her to spread a web of influence throughout the party, despite the fact that many believe she cannot beat any Republican rival for the presidency.
Figures released last week show that Clinton raised US$21.4 million last year alone and few observers doubt that she wants to be the US' first woman President.
Clinton's financial heft and high profile are unrivalled in her party.
"She is a gravitational power within the party. Donors are just pulled into her orbit in a way no other potential candidate can compete with," said one senior party official.
Clinton's power comes not just from her ability to raise more money than any other Democratic figure, but also because her star quality allows her to boost the campaign coffers of potential supporters.
Since 2001 she has raised a staggering US$50 million for other Democratic candidates, by appearing at their fundraisers or lending her name to their mailshots. Her brief appearance can net more donations than many weeks of traditional campaigning by struggling candidates.
This ability wins a lot of loyalty and explains why Clinton's lock on the political establishment of the Democratic Party is so strong, despite polls showing that many voters doubt whether she is capable of winning the White House.
A CNN poll showed that 51 percent of Americans refuse to vote for Clinton, under any circumstances. In another poll, 49 percent of New York voters told the Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion that they believed Clinton should not run for President.
Clinton's power is also explained by a tight-knit group of Democratic officials across the party who have longstanding ties back to the Bill Clinton White House. They include John Podesta, Bill Clinton's former chief of staff who is now head of the powerful Center for American Progress, and various former aides at the Democracy Alliance, a powerful group of wealthy Democratic donors.
It is this network that has helped Clinton craft a steady strategy of moving to the right to woo independent and Republican voters. She has held joint press conferences with former enemies such as Newt Gingrich and right-wing Christian conservatives on a host of social issues.
She has also softened her position on abortion and become a leading hawk on the Iraq war.
Many observers outside the party establishment believe that choosing Clinton will doom the Democrats to defeat in 2008. They believe she carries too much baggage from her years in the White House and will be too easily attacked by the Republicans.
They also point to the failure of John Kerry's campaign as a lesson in not running a senator from the north-east when the last two Democratic presidents were Southern governors.
The Democrats have struggled to capitalize on the sea of troubles that swamped US President George W. Bush's administration last year.
With the US due for crucial congressional elections this November, Democrats are facing a battle to make any significant gains against a Republican Party controlling the White House and both houses of Congress.
A recent poll by Zogby International showed the Democrats scoring just a single-seat net gain in the Senate.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS