Former US president Bill Clinton and former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton are the top surrogates for Democrats struggling through a bleak campaign season in states where US President Barack Obama is deeply unpopular.
With speculation rampant about whether Hillary Rodham Clinton makes a second presidential run in 2016, the power couple has blanketed the political map ahead of the Nov. 4 election, attending fundraisers and get-out-the-vote rallies for a long roster of Democratic candidates. In states like Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina and Colorado, the Clintons are an asset at a time when many Democrats need a big name to help inspire supporters.
The Clintons usually campaign for candidates on their own.
On the campaign trail, the former president, in particular, is in his element.
“I feel like an old racehorse in a stable and people just take me out and put me on the track and slap me on the rear to see if I can run around one more time,” the ex-president joked at a recent Democratic Party event in New Hampshire — a theme he has used before while campaigning this round.
Obama appeared at his first political rallies last weekend — in Democratic-friendly Maryland and his home state of Illinois — but the Clintons can go where the president might not be helpful.
Bill Clinton starred in TV ads for Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky, where Obama is so unpopular that Grimes has repeatedly refused to say whether she voted for him.
The couple is a powerful fundraising force that fuels voter turnout and give activists a taste of what could come next.
“Some people excel at raising money. Some people excel at turning out voters. The Clintons excel at both,” said Representative Steve Israel of New York, who leads the House Democrats’ campaign arm. “There is not one single competitive district in the country where both don’t do well.”
Their campaign schedule is infused with anticipation of a second run for the White House by Hillary Rodham Clinton, also former first lady and US senator.
She is expected to announce her decision after next month’s elections, a move that could boost morale should Democrats cede control of the US Senate and lose seats in the House of Representatives.
This week alone, Hillary Rodham Clinton hauled in an estimated US$3.5 million in California for the campaign committees of House and Senate Democrats, including US$2.1 million at a Hollywood event with Democratic megadonors Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg.
In Denver’s suburbs on Tuesday, the former secretary of state vouched for Colorado Senator Mark Udall — who is locked in a tight Senate race against Republican Representative Cory Gardner — and Governor John Hickenlooper, calling them “two of the most effective leaders in the country.”
People showing up for the rally had to fill out part of their ticket, entitled “I Pledge to Vote,” and hand in the stub at the door for admission. Campaign workers signed up attendees to work get-out-the-vote shifts.
It was Hillary Rodham Clinton’s second visit to Colorado in as many weeks. During her previous trip, she strolled through Denver’s central train station with Udall, ensuring images of them on the local news.
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