The following piece was produced as part of the Huffington Post's OffTheBus.
Hillary outraised both Obama and Edwards in the third quarter of the campaign and not only are Democratic candidates receiving money from Democrats, but also Republicans. 18% of Hillary's Orange County donors are registered as Republicans, Obama 14% and Edwards 11%. Doesn't seem like a huge gap, but if you think of it in terms of differences, Hillary received 22% more donations from Republicans than Obama and 39% more than Edwards. Republican donors are not just making symbolic donations either. The average donation from the Republicans registered in Orange County to Clinton was $1,800 with Democratic donors not far behind with an average of $1,600.
It isn't the first time Orange County has gotten excited about a Democratic Candidate. In 1992 prominent Republicans broke ranks to support a little known Governor from Arkansas for the Democratic nominee for President. Clinton lost in Orange County to Bush Sr. 67% to 32% even though he was lauded as a moderate Democrat and after winning office he pushed through policies that in hind sight were more harmful than first perceived by moderate Democrats. NAFTA is now under fire in some form from each Democratic candidate as are other Clinton initiatives (Hillary even admits it could use some reworking).
Hillary is walking a fine line between the experience she received as First Lady and the down side of these policies as a Presidential Candidate. Hillary wants to appeal to men by claiming to be their gal and voting for bills like Kyl-Lieberman amendment but she also wants to ride the wave of exuberance created by the idea of the first female US President in history. Clinton's chief strategist claims that polling indicates that Hillary will have "as much as 24% of Republican women defect and make a major difference nationwide in terms of, I think, the emotional element of potentially having the first woman nominee." Women so badly want a woman President they will jump ideological lines to vote for one and since Hillary is triangulating herself into the left side of the GOP it makes it possible for them to rationalize this choice, not only is she a woman, she's a tough woman.
Hillary also benefited by fundraising in Orange County by way of Norman Hsu, who is being sued by Briar Wood Investments. Hsu is being accused of defrauding investors of "at least $23 million and dictated that they make contributions to Democratic candidates as a condition of doing business with him. "
Martin Waters, Briar Wood's chief and registered Republican was invited to attend Democratic Party events "as proof of his stature and credibility, the lawsuit says." And although Hillary has returned the money raised by Hsu, it's interesting to note that she had received these donations by help of a Republican rather than a Democratic connection in the county.