Hillary Locks Up The Backing Of The DC Democratic Establishment

Washington--From the K Street lobbyist corridor to the major gay and lesbian organizations to the city's kingpin consultants and fundraisers to the big feminist groups, Hillary Clinton has acquired a near-lock on the Democratic establishment in the nation's capital.

The level of support here for the junior New York Senator approaches what an incumbent president seeking re-election might expect.

The people and organizations run the gamut: Togo West, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs and CEO of The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the nation's premier black think tank; Elizabeth Bagley, former US Ambassador to Portugal whose Georgetown home has been the gathering place for countless fundraisers; Elizabeth Birch, former head of the Human Rights Campaign, and her former partner, MSNBC and CNBC commentator Hilary Rosen and, of course, former DNC chair and money-man extraordinaire Terry McAuliffe.

Those names only touch the surface of Clinton's support among the Democratic establishment.

Take Matthew Bernstein, a prominent Hillary-backer. He is a classic Washington success story. Once a lowly legislative assistant to former Senator Howard Metzenbaum, he is now a lobbyist whose clients paid his law firm $1.98 million during just the first half of 2006, according to reports filed with the Senate. Among those clients is the Estate Tax Coalition seeking permanent elimination of the burdensome levy placed on the nation's wealthiest citizens.

And then there is Vernon Jordan, one of this city's highest-profile wheeler-dealers, who is now a Clinton $100,000-plus bundler. And Vernon is not the only major bundler in the Jordan family. His wife, Ann Dibble Jordan is also a $100,000-plus bundler whose credentials as a player in Washington include past or present board memberships at Johnson & Johnson, Automatic Data Processing, Citigroup, and Catalyst; service as a trustee at The Brookings Institution, the University of Chicago, WETA (Washington's PBS affiliate), and the Phillips Collection; and chair of the Board of Directors at the National Symphony Orchestra.

Barack Obama has ten Washingtonians each committed to raising at least $50,000. Some are well known figures, including former Federal Communications Commission chairman William E. Kennard who is now with the Carlyle Group; and Gregory Craig, who defended President Clinton at his impeachment trial before the Senate. But adding up all the Washington fundraiser-bundlers listed on Public Citizen's White House For Sale web site, Clinton has 21, more than all seven of her Democratic opponents combined, who have 15.

Clinton's links to the Democratic establishment and influence centers of Washington D.C. extend deep into the institutional structure of the city. Clinton people are embedded in crucial positions.

The Center for American Progress, the most effective of the Democratic think tanks, is run by John Podesta, Bill Clinton's former chief of staff. The more established Brookings Institution is run, in turn, by Strobe Talbot, Deputy Secretary of State from 1994 to 2001 and a close personal friend of the Clintons.

Kelly Craighead, who had been an aide to Senator Clinton, is now Managing Director of the Democracy Alliance, a partnership of wealthy Democrats, each of whom is committed to investing substantial sums in liberal organizations selected by the Alliance staff.

One of the ventures financed by the Democracy Alliance is the Data Warehouse, a company putting together lists of both voters and non-voters, and then combining those lists with data on individual consumer buying patterns, religious activity, hobbies, union membership, and a host of other commercially available information. The goal of the Data Warehouse project is to allow Democrats to catch up with - and if possible surpass -- Republicans in the new technologies of micro-targeting and data mining to ensure that as many friendly voters as possible turn out. The Data Warehouse is run by Clinton loyalist and top strategist Harold Ickes.

Comments

[ResistanceisFutile]

As Bill would say, "locked up tighter than her cunt".

[IzaakSzerman]

Please read the policy statements of the presidential candidates at

http://www.presidential-candidates.net/

Personally, in reading most of these, I find myself in the position of Lewis Black: I don't have enough bread crumbs to find my way back home! In particular, I have been unable to find my way out of the smoke of Clinton and ALL of the Republican candidates.

The only one of this whole invasion of wannabepresidents that is actually FOR the American people is Dennis Kucinich.

If, after reading their position statements, you can come to any other conclusion, let me know.

[abbiehoffmansghost]

Hillary may lock up anything that she wants. The beauty of democracy is that she can't and won't lock me up. Mr. Kucinich you have my support.

[Witchitalineman]

And wait before the media starts locking up Hillary as the winner let some of us "ordinary" folks have a say. I have NOT, REPEAT NOT made up my mind who I am voting for. It sure as heck won't be republican but it doesn't mean I am voting for Hillary or Obama. The media and so called stragetists need to give it a rest!

[957]

why the hell would anyone vote for her, its the same old crap, she's not much different than Bush I thought this election was for major change?

[JackNasty]

Hillary Clinton: when K Street's status quo is exactly what you want.

[squareyellowpaper]

We have three viable candidates left.

If they don't tear eachother apart in the next year, we have an opportunity to regain the White House. It is NOT a done deal.

The candidates need to press Bush and the Republcans on Iraq, stop attacking eachother, and just present their agendas.

Let the DNC and other groups bombard the TV waves in order to get the message out about ending the war, the failures of the Republicans, and all will be well.

[squareyellowpaper]

I will not fault any candidate who takes advantage of money from lobbyists.

Once, we have a Democrat in the White House and we control 2/3 of the Senate and maintain a majority in the house, I would hope that legislation would be passed preventing foreign interests from buying our candidates.

[misterbone]

"If you spend a lot of time talking with liberals, you find their rhetoric full of anger at certain individuals. You won't hear much talk of aingle payer healthcare or pension return or credit card usury. Putting Scooter Libby in jail is far more important.

Liberals didn't used to be like this. There was a time when - instead of just hating Dewey, Taft and Nixon - they actually accomplished things....

Opposing Bush and his capos is a necessity but it is not a policy. Until liberals are willing to support something more than a minimum wage that doesn't even bring us back to where we were in 1956, they're really just one more thing standing in the way of change."

Sam Smith, Progressive Review

[johnebeegood]

Thank you.

[Justinpassing]

(pssst, we're all voting for kucinich, pass it on)

[jaschrod]

I personally like Ron Paul, he seems to be the only candidate with knowledge of the past, present, and solutions for the future.He seems to be the only candidate telling the truth, but the truth in this country normally does not stand a chance. Basically because the people are not very knowledgeable of history,and what is currently going on, and not willing to find out, he probably will not stand a chance unless the people get serious.

[Witchitalineman]

I tend to agree as long as he is independent and believe he is a libertarian which of course to most of the uneducated electorate will mean he's compared to being a "communist".

[jaschrod]

She is proving to be nothing more than a Bush type candidate.­Big business, and f**k the people. This information prompts me to not support her.I've had it with big business running our country.No vote from me.

[GarthCrosby]

What is the purpose of this article .....if not to convey the totally ridiculous concept of Hillary 08 inevitability. She is the 'wife' of a very popular 2 terms president. Shouldn't this be expected. Why did I allow this article to waste my time. The only interesting point in this article is that the lawyer who defended Clinton is now supporting Obama ....hmmm.

[Witchitalineman]

Bill Clinton may be intelligent and popular with the "good old boys" but there are a lot of us who don't like his exploitation of a young naive woman (yes remember her) named Monica. I wouldn't be bragging too much about setting a good example when it comes to his womanizing. I won't vote republican but it doesn't mean I will vote for Hillary or Barack either. Is there a third party candidate out there. This election is much too serious to have the same old, same old.

[johnebeegood]

Young naive girl? Do you mean the one who willingly gave bj's and dipped cigars for Bill? Please! The one who was a 22 year old? Old enough to know what-and who- she was doing?

That said, I agree no vote for Hillary.

[joja]

How nice for her.

Well, it looks like we're stuck with another 4 years of Republicans in the WH, if she's the nominee.

The Democratic "strategists" have got to be the dumbest fucks on the planet to keep pushing HC down everyone's throats.

They're making the same mistake that generals make when they prepare to fight the last war, instead of the next one.

Hillary will not get the women's vote, the black vote, nor the white-male vote in numbers enuf to win the general election.

Rove knows this, I know this, and the Dem leadership knows this, yet they're going ahead with the launching of the Titanic anyway.

Talk about stoooopid!!

[researcher]

give the demos credit they know how to lose.

kind of like those folks that go to vegas to lose.

it is in their psychic to lose. low self esteem or something.

vote for her is a vote for politics as usual but that is what american wants.

the problem is not the politicans the problem is a naive and arrogant america.

they are but a reflection of us. we all must look in a mirror and see the problem.

[DAWK]

MORE INSANITY FROM LACK OF A REAL HERO FOR PRESIDENT?
ELLIOT SPITZER N Y GOV,WOULD MAKE A GREAT PRES. OR PATRIC FITZGERALD OR AL GORE OR RALPH NADER,BUT IF HILLERY WINS,THEN IT'S BILL -IN-THE-BA­CKROOM-MAK­ING -DEALS....­.WITH HILLERY AS FRONT-MAN-­WOMAN,DISH­ING OUT THE ORDERS.
MARGRET THATCHER DID THAT AND THE BRITS WERE SOURED ON A WOMAN PRES,SO HOOOOOOOW WILL HILLERY DO ANY BETTER?