Securing The Dishwasher Vote

Ouch. The Clinton campaign has a real problem. The Washington Post has come out with an editorial that hammers Hillary Clinton over her campaign finances. They point out that this is yet another case of zeal for cash overcoming good judgment.

This appears to be another instance in which a Clinton campaign's zeal for campaign cash overwhelms its judgment. After the fundraising scandals of President Bill Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign, the dangers of vacuuming cash from a politically inexperienced immigrant community should have been obvious. But Ms. Clinton's money machine seized on a new source of cash in Chinatown and environs. As the Times reported, a single Chinatown fundraiser in April brought in $380,000. By contrast, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry raised $24,000 from Chinatown in the course of his entire campaign.

The LA Times article that kicked this off cites some donors being strongarmed into contributing by neighborhood bosses. One third off donors the LAT tried to find could not be located - and nobody had ever heard of them. In many cases the amounts contributed appear to be grossly out of line with the donor's probable income. How much do dishwashers make in Chinatown? Enough to have a cool $2,000 to hand over to a political candidate? Some of the donors may not be legally entitled to donate at all.

The appearance of this editorial indicates that this story has legs and will be looked at by the media. They may be in the tank for Democrats as a group, but reporters cannot resist a big, stinky story. And Hillary's finances are beginning to smell very ripe, indeed.

Other Links to this Post

1. Truth v. The Machine » Archives » Never comprehending the race had long gone by — Monday, 22 October , 2007 @ 6:36 pm

2. » Following the money with Hillary and donation-gate » Leaning Straight Up » Blog Archive » — Tuesday, 23 October , 2007 @ 2:18 am