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Million Dollar Democratic Fundraiser Behind "Grassroots" Hillary Clinton Site
I'm not alleging any wrongdoing or shady behavior here, it's just that when something is labeled "grassroots" a person with the profile like Reshma Saujani is not what leaps first to my mind.
I think of grassroots as regular folks getting involved in politics, and not necessarily people who have done this sort of thing before. She seems like a dedicated Democratic activist and fundraiser who has been quite effective and a part of the existing Democratic infrastructure for some time.
This came about because I noticed that the official Hillary Clinton blog was directing folks to check out HillarySpeaksForMe.com as a grassroots site supporting the candidacy of Sen. Clinton.
The domain is registered to Reshma Saujani.
Reshma Saujani served in 1996 as an intern in President Clinton's White House.
She is listed as having received a "non-travel disbursement" of $55.34 from the 1997 Clinton inaugural committee.
A month ago she posted on the official Clinton blog about her role as a "Hillblazer" - a group of under 45 professionals networking together to raise money for Sen. Clinton.
She served as a delegate for New York to the 2004 Democratic convention.
She is a member of New York Women for Hillary Council.
She worked on Indian-American outreach for Clinton/Gore in 1996, and helped form South Asians for Kerry.
Before ethnic violence forced her family out of Uganda, she says her family was among the nation's wealthiest.
She works for the Carlyle-Blue Wave hedge fund, part of the Carlyle Group.
She is listed as a $50,000+ bundler for John Kerry in 2004, and apparently helped raise over a million dollars for his campaign.
She has donated at least $1,500 to Sen. Clinton's campaign so far.
Here is a picture of her in 2004 with Terry McAuliffe, then the DNC chair, now the campaign chairman for Sen. Clinton.
More analysis daily at OliverWillis.com
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The fact that she is not employed by a politician, is not an elected official and is not famous...makes anything she does grass roots. She is not George Soros or Chuck Norris. She works hard, and has been an important part of getting young people involved in politics. All she is guilty is of is passion. And though your article was intended to discredit an extremely innovative website, all you did was make her look like a rockstar.
Please tell me you're not serious! Hillary's so-called "grass roots" organizers work for the Carlysle Group? (for those who don't know what this group is, you might want to google it) I wonder why the MSM doesn't bother to cover items like this? It's much easier to cover stories like "Obama is unpatriotic because he doesn't wear a lapel pin".
HRC..
1) I Served on the Board of UNION HATING Wal-Mart
But I am Pro Union.
2) I voted for the war in Iraq
But I am against Iraq War
3) I Voted for Kyle-Lieberman to extent the war to Iran
But I will bring soldiers back home in 60 days
4) I will provide universal health insurance
But I will force you to buy it to boost insurance company"s profits.
5) I Supported NAFTA
But now I oppose NAFTA
6) I am a strong woman and a fighter
But I cry and complain when I can not win
7) I can stand the republican heat
But I cannot stand the Democratic heat
8) I am the most experienced candidate
But I have no clue how to run a presidential campaign.
9) I hate Bush
But I try to copy his politics of fear and division
10)I am the most vetted candidate in the race
But, no I won't show you my tax returns
11)I am honored to be with you Barack Obama
But Shame on you Barack Obama
I will be fine because I am on both sides of the issues
But the question is will you be fine?
BHO...
1. I spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
That's pretty silly, but let's go with that... A clean slate beats one full of lies, deceit, and hypocrisy any damn day.
Color me shocked. Reason #3,908 I've chosen any one of the other candidates over these last months other than Hillary to support.
Hillary's mocked activists and the grassroots on the stump then makes a mockery of the very meaning grassroots with millionaire backers. A perfect picture of who she is.
So says BO.
She mocked him, not his supporters.
Who cares?! This is politics, you idiot. Not some contest to choose the next head of your PTA. Clearly, you worship at the church of Obama's "Kumbaya". That kind of thinking is what is going win this election for the Republicans.
Hillary '08.
Um Oliver, I'm glad that you spend a whole blog trying to discredit this site, but I'm glad you listed it, bc I wouldn't have known about it otherwise. Thanks for helping young Hillary supporters know a quality place to go to post their support for Sen. Clinton. Also, I find it odd that you, a Black man, are trying to knock Hillary...oh wait, no I don't. Typical.
hehe ... nice post mempo ...
Ain't it the truth mempo...
Way to make this about Oliver Willis's race, mempo. You really represent Hillary Clinton in a poor manner.
So what? There is a website with supporters posting their support. Someone hired "Obama Girl" to make videos...blah, blah,...
Let's get back to issues-like how to beat McCain come November.
SIMPLE vote for OBAMA!
Anyone that Louis Farrakhan supports I am against, Go Hillary
First you tell me words don"t matter; now you say Farrakhan"s words are important.
YES WE CAN!
In the Clinton circles she probably is grassroots just like Armani is probably ordinary business wear.
Good one, jazz...
Duh....ALL of the candidates are millionaires.
Since the Clintons have worked tirelessly to become a part of the Washington establishment AND to surround themselves with very wealthy friends, and the elite of politics I was surprised to find that her base is blue collar workers making $50,000 or less and with lower education levels. I thought her base would be just the opposite.
Why would you be surprised? The republicans perfected the art of getting blue collar Americans to vote against their interests by distracting them with non-issues. Clinton, while falsely accusing Obama of using rove like tactics, is in fact steeped in this sort of behavior.
Big Clinton Fundraisers May Run Their Own Ads - Clinton Campaign Insiders seek to fund independent effort on behalf of Hillary Clinton and attacking Obama.
Clinton fund-raisers would violate rules that prevent coordination between a candidate's formal campaign and outside entities that spend money on his or her behalf. WSJ online February 13th.
Senior Clinton Strategists & Fundraisers May Run Their Own Ads to "Swiftboat" Obama in TEXAS & OHIO
Wall Street Journal online Posted: Wednesday, February 13, at 2:44 pm
As Sen. Hillary Clinton faces a money crunch, several of her top fund-raisers are considering using independent organizations to wage their own campaigns on her behalf.
At least two sets of Clinton fund-raisers are speaking with lawyers to figure out how to create independent entities to support Mrs. Clinton in Ohio, Texas and other primary contests. Susie Tompkins Buell, the founder of the Esprit clothing company, says she is deciding whether to start her own entity to fund commercials for Mrs. Clinton, or whether to donate to existing groups, such as abortion-rights group Emily's List, that are already spending money on Mrs. Clinton.
It's not certain that any of the efforts by the Clinton fund-raisers will get off the ground. Campaign-finance law makes it difficult for campaign insiders to fund independent efforts to elect candidates.
"We're just trying to figure out things to do to help," Ms. Buell said. "We all feel very passionate about it, so the question is, what is the best thing we can do to get her across the finish line?"
Another Clinton fund-raiser, who didn't want to be named because he hasn't made a final decision, said he may pump as much as $500,000 into television, radio and newspaper ads for Mrs. Clinton.
Howard Wolfson, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign, declined to comment. By law, Mr. Wolfson isn't allowed to speak with anyone who might start an independent campaign on Mrs. Clinton's behalf.
Top fund-raisers for Mrs. Clinton began discussions of starting an independent campaign after Mr. Obama upset Mrs. Clinton in the Iowa caucuses in early January. Ms. Buell discussed the idea with other long-time Clinton fund-raisers, including Steven Bing and Haim Saban.
Ms. Buell said one issue nagging her efforts is a 2002 law that forbids coordination between people who work for an election campaign and people who manage outside political efforts. That law would require any Clinton fund-raiser who started an independent campaign for Mrs. Clinton to sever ties with the campaign.
Even then, the Federal Election Commission may decide that any entity started by a Clinton fund-raiser would violate rules that prevent coordination between a candidate's formal campaign and outside entities that spend money on his or her behalf.
"It's a risky, highly regulated, uncertain area of campaign-finance law," says Jan Baran, a campaign-finance lawyer with Wiley Rein LLP.
Ms. Buell and the Clinton fund-raisers are often included on conference calls with campaign aides in which strategy is discussed. Ms. Buell said that she might not be willing to leave the campaign. "You have to weigh out what is the most beneficial" to the Clinton campaign, she said.
Some Clinton backers also worry that any new independent organization will be compared to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group founded in 2004 to attack Sen. John Kerry's record in Vietnam. Other Clinton fund-raisers say that Mr. Obama campaigns against special interests and will surely point out any help that Mrs. Clinton gets from any outside political organization.
Still, at least one Clinton backer is looking at launching an independent effort. The fund-raiser who didn't want to be named says he is talking with his lawyers to figure out how he could set up an organization to fund TV, newspaper and radio ads for Mrs. Clinton. This anonymous person says he would put up as much as $500,000 and might seek money from others. The ads would run in at least some of the big coming primary states, such as Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
This person says he feels he has done all he can for the campaign from the inside. He has donated the maximum $2,300 allowed by law for the primary to Mrs. Clinton, and he has tapped out his fund-raising network. He says Mrs. Clinton must win in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania to secure the nomination, but he worries that her campaign will not be able to afford to fund the ads she will need.
So far in the 2008 campaign, outside groups have spent $5.2 million on behalf of Mrs. Clinton and $1.5 million for Mr. Obama, according to disclosure statements filed with the Federal Election Commission. About half of the money spent on Mr. Obama's behalf comes from two related San Francisco-based organizations called Vote Hope and powerpac.org.
A spokesman for those organizations says that they plan to spend a total of $4 million for Mr. Obama's campaign. The Obama campaign has said it doesn't want any group spending money on its behalf.
Mrs. Clinton has received strong backing from two large labor unions, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the American Federation of Teachers, which have spent $2.5 million and $1.5 million, respectively, on her behalf.
Mrs. Clinton also has the backing of Emily's List, which backs female Democrats who support abortion rights. The group has spent $963,000 for Mrs. Clinton in 2008, according to the forms.
Ms. Buell said that one option under consideration by Clinton fund-raisers is to pour millions into existing groups that are already spending money to support Mrs. Clinton. Emily's List is one such group.
Documents released by the Internal Revenue Service last month show that a handful of top Clinton fund-raisers gave large donations to Emily's List last year. Mrs. Buell donated $100,000 to Emily's List in 2007, after giving the group $50,000 in the previous four years.
In mid-December, Mr. Bing made his first-ever donation to Emily's List, giving it $250,000. On the same date, another Clinton fund-raiser, Chicago investor J.B. Pritzker, chipped in $100,000.
In all, a half-dozen top Clinton fund-raisers donated a total of $575,000 to Emily's List in 2007. The same group of Clinton donors contributed a total of $228,000 to the organization in the four years from 2003 to 2006.
Source: Wall Street Journal online
Thank you for this info; it is overwhelmingly relevant.
We can only hope that voters will read and reflect.
Billionair democratic fund raiser OPERAH WINNIFRY is behind Obama!! LOL! Give us a break.
Think you may have missed the point. It's about falsely labeling your organization as 'grassroots' when it is not. Please re-read the article for this 'fine point'.
Not only have you missed the point, it seems you have a very limited understanding of this post and the first comment. Oprah's wealth has nothing to do with her fundraising. As if HRC doesn't have billionaires fundraising for her.
i don't agree with your definition of grass roots. i don't think grass roots is about the individual people, so much as the whole. how the campaign is designed and conducted. however, i do not think of the hillary campaign as grass roots at all.
Hillary has every right to a vigorous campaign.
MoveOn is a 501(c)(4), Pubs use 527's all the time.
The Blogging Obama fanatics, along with talking points directly from the Campaign feel that they can "Shout Down" speech they don"t like or rules they don"t like.
What they are doing, like everyone else, is Campaigning and supporting their candidate. Grass roots, corporate, individual donors, whatever. That is the system.
I do not necessary agree with it all, but if electing a President needs to be more than a vote for American Idol, we need to hear multiple voices. And it is a given those voices are all about supporting a candidate or a point of view. Some we do not agree with.
You prove a point I'd made a little while ago. In summary, you HRC devotees (as well as HRC) are horrible at this campaigning stuff. You lack a very important attribute: empathy. You have no concept of how others think or act or listen. Nor do you care to figure it out. Your process is: 1.) opinion reached in my head, 2.) pound my opinion into everyone else's head, and 3.) should anyone have resistance to my opinion, rationalize and repeat step 2.
Maybe, I am not sure, but this post is not about the process or the campaign. Each side can use whatever tactical or strategy they can, even if executed poorly.
Really, your argument then says whoever runs the best Campaign is qualified to be President, which is really putting on a PR show like American Idol. This still may win the campaign but is not indicative of how good a President that person would be nor who the better President would be.
She's given $1500. That's individual. That's grassroots.
The blogger was making a straightforward point. Grassroots means bottom up, as in derived from the people.
It does not mean top down, as in bought and paid for by one of the political establishment.
What's the deal with so many Clinton supporters referring to Obama supporters as fanatics? Is it jealousy that they don't have a candidate they can be really excited about?
In this case the writer is only pointing out that a website that purports to be grassroots is not really grassroots. It's like a big corporation trying to pass itself off as a mom and pop operation.
Clinton supporters are getting a little erratic, sort of like their candidate...and sure, they're jealous and probably won't vote, because they're not gracious at losing!
grassroots reflects that the content is from everyday people sending their message out to be heard. It is not some corporation derived marketing spin. It is grassroots even if it doesn't meet your narrowly defined definition. And it's quite well documented that Obama's tactics and his zealous supporters are a far cry from the "let's be truthful and transparent" rhetoric he's delivering on stage.
The movement he's created is the most anti-free-speech group I've ever seen.
It's absolutely turning into fanaticism and hate-mongering that makes Republicans look like the tame and sane ones.
I think this is going to blow up big-time.
Hillary may not survive it, but by the end, everyone will know that his tactics set off an unfair and, frankly, unAmerican type mob-like movement.
I don't think he has the power to alter the attitudes, either. He used the election pulpit irresonsibly and it's showing now with the screaming masses who cannot tolerate civil debate and seek to bully everyone who isn't an Obamamaniac.
People won't stand for this. I think a lot of people just saw the rallies and excitement and thought, "That's neat."
They will not stand for a tyrannical Democratic party that is this ugly in spirit.
it's a logical fallacy to try to tear down a candidate based on his supporters. it's also quite "fox news" of you to write about obama's "tactics" without any sense of proof to back you up.
i'm not sure how obama is the tyrannical one, since hillary was practically annointed the nominee in 2007?
A few words for the Clintons:
1. TAX RETURNS
2. NAFTA
3. IRAQ WAR
4. EARMARKS (she's in the top 10 for giving them)
5. CLINTON LIBRARY DONOR'S LIST
6. SEALED WHITE HOUSE RECORDS
7. Voting to CLUSTER BOMB Civilians in Iraq
Answer these and promise that we'll lay off your backs...
.
You think "the people" feel represented by the Builderberg Conferance:
http://www.oldthinkernews.com/Articles/oldthinker%20news/hillary_clinton.htm
Watch this if you want to know about Hillary's supporters (there's a scene where Hillary is shown being escorted by David Rockefeller):
Endgame: Blueprint for Global Enslavement (Alex Jones)
http://www.moviesfoundonline.com/endgame.php
Hillary and Bush are both members of the same CFR cabal that brought us 9/11 and Iraq. Just look at the list of her CFR foreign policy team at wikipedia: (Notice that Paul Krugman is among the many current Hillary surrogates listed)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_on_Foreign_Relations#Notable_current_council_members
Here's what her chief foreign policy advisor said, ONE YEAR BEFORE 9/11:
"Iraq will be one of the major issues facing the incoming Bush administration at the United Nations." Further, "Saddam Hussein's activities continue to be unacceptable and, in my view, dangerous to the region and, indeed, to the world, not only because he possesses the potential for weapons of mass destruction but because of the very nature of his regime. His willingness to be cruel internally is not unique in the world, but the combination of that and his willingness to export his problems makes him a clear and present danger at all times."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Holbrooke#Position_on_Iraq
Richard Holbrooke is a better looking and slicker Dick Cheney, if you ask me.
GObama!
P.S. Meet one of Obama's foreign policy team, Samantha Powers:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/25/barack_obamas_senior_foreign_policy_adviser
AnninCA:
You spend a lot of time and use a lot of "I thinks" to tar thousands of people with your "screaming masses" brush.
Knowledge-based analysis is far different from the disrespectful opinions you throw out about your fellow citizens.
It seems impossible for you to understand -- and accept -- that there are many people who attend rallies, who applaud good speeches, who work for a candidate of choice who just might differ from your descriptions.
I for one understand that Obama supporters do not deserve the lying disrespect that you throw out.
Men and women of all opinion are entitled to support their candidates; Obama's supporters cannot be clumped into your one bunch of inaccurate descriptives.
You really should try to allow citizens the same rights as you have; don't demean yourself by branding those who disagree with you as somehow crazed or tyrannical.
Spurious remarks make YOU look anti-American and bigoted.
Can anyone honestly call this woman a grass roots supporter? She has a history with the Democratic party, shes worked the system, and she's got the cash to help Hillary's cause. That's fine. Obama has those kinds of people supporting him too. But lets not take away the true meaning of a grass roots supporter by labeling a Democratic Insider one.
A few months ago...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18958566
Political campaigns spend thousands, even millions of dollars to acquire good mailing lists.
Last year, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton took the unusual step of renting out some of her lists. The transaction once again highlights the Clintons' connections to a businessman who now faces questions from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
InfoUSA
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1920213/posts
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Posted February 25, 2008 | 02:26 AM (EST)