President Obama kicked off his re-election campaign yesterday with a fundraiser in my neck of the woods featuring none other than Bill Clinton. And why not; after all, the public rapport and repartee between these two have been such lately that one could be forgiven for thinking that Clinton had replaced Biden as Obama’s running mate.
All indications are that Clinton will be the VIP member of team Obama this year. But I feel constrained to pooh-pooh any impression that the two have kissed and made up since their nasty political death match during the 2008 presidential campaign, which was highlighted by Clinton (as Hillary’s campaigner-in-chief) essentially calling Obama an uppity Negro and Obama essentially calling Clinton a Redneck racist. Because nothing could be further from the truth.
Instead what is playing out between them is a political marriage of convenience:
Obama needs Clinton to woo (Reagan) Democrats who favored Hillary and only voted for him begrudgingly, but whose disgruntlement with the slow economic recovery and escalating debt crisis has them thinking that Romney might be preferable to Obama for the same reasons they thought Reagan was preferable to Carter. Not to mention being able to use Clinton to access all of the donors who have made the Clinton Global Initiative a multi-billion dollar cash cow.
Clinton needs Obama because he knows that his re-election would give Hillary the best chance at being elected president in 2016. Because it’s far better to run on the coattails of an incumbent Obama than to run against an incumbent Mitt Romney. And I have no doubt that, despite her coy denials, Hillary plans to run again….
Beyond this, I feel constrained to also pooh-pooh the narrative being propagated by (white) Democratic pundits about Clinton spoon feeding talking points to Obama to help him make his case for re-election.
This was demonstrated in brazen fashion last week when former Clinton press secretary (and die-hard Hillary supporter) Dee Dee Meyers asserted that Obama’s line about a chasm growing between ordinary Republicans and the Republican Party was “vintage Bill Clinton.” For this is belied by the argument Obama has been making for over a year now about the Republican Party lurching so far to the right that Ronald Reagan himself could not win a Republican primary today.
As for needing Clinton to feed him talking points, this narrative is ironic to the point of being laughable when one remembers that Clinton could not come up with enough talking points to help his own wife defeat Obama for the Democratic nomination in 2008. Clearly Obama does not need to be spoon fed words to make his case.
Then there’s this annoying attempt to squeeze more cash out of me by inviting me to attend this fundraiser for the “opportunity” to meet Obama and Clinton:
Anthony —
This Sunday, President Obama and former President Bill Clinton will be in McLean, Virginia, for a reception and an opportunity to meet with dedicated supporters like you.
Time is running out to reserve your seat at this event. We don’t want you to miss it, so consider this a nudge….
The problem is that I did not need a nudge because I have already donated all I intend to give to help re-elect Obama. You’d think team Obama would have some way of tracking long-established donors like me to avoid nickel and diming us with e-mail solicitations every week.
Hell, it’s only April and I’m already treating every e-mail from Obama-Biden as SPAM. I don’t see how they expect to rekindle that 2008 fire by throwing a wet blanket on the enthusiasm of supporters like me.
As for the invitation itself, ever since working on the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign in 1996 – with all of the pre-Monica disillusionment that entailed, I’ve wanted to attend an open campaign event about as much as I’ve wanted to roll around in the mud with pigs.
The event is being hosted at the McLean, Va., home of Terry McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and personal friend of the Clinton family.
Reflecting a fundraising arms race among the candidates, price tags for the venue are hefty. Five hundred supporters are expected to attend the reception, with tickets starting at $1,000 a person. The Obama campaign says 80 will be present for the banquet, with individual donations of $20,000 donation necessary for that event
McAuliffe tells ABC News the evening will bring in over $3 million combined
(ABC News, April 29, 2012)
Ironically enough, I attended a similar event in 1996 at this same home when McAuliffe was my boss, serving as the National Finance Director for the Clinton-Gore re-election team.
UPDATE (11 am)
Adding insult to my growing disaffection, none other than Barack himself just sent me this solicitation that, frankly, I would have expected more from Ed MaMahon pitching his patently rigged Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes than from a president raising money to fund his re-election campaign:
Anthony –
In a few days, I’ll be hitting the trail for my last campaign.
Everything we’ve accomplished in the past three years — and our chance to do so much more — is on the line.
What we do today will be a measure of whether or not we’re ready to fight for it.
Donate $190 or whatever you can before tonight’s fundraising deadline.
By pitching in before midnight, you’ll automatically be in the running to join me and George Clooney at his place on May 10th. It’s not often I can get away from work, so I look forward to spending a fun evening in L.A. with a couple supporters like you.
In the meantime, let’s close out this deadline strong:
https://donate.barackobama.com/Midnight-Deadline
Thanks,
Barack
I can’t make this stuff up folks….
UPDATE II (9:06 pm)
This is now bordering on harassment: After Barack’s e-mail at 11, I received another solicitation from Ann Marie Habershaw, Chief Operating Officer – Obama for America, at 4:46 pm. Now this:
Anthony —
There are two ways to look at it: This is yet another email from the campaign in your inbox. Or this email is making our organization stronger.
Grassroots support, especially online, is how we compete with our opponents. And we won’t win without it.
If you’ve got a few bucks to spare, mind chipping in before midnight?
https://donate.barackobama.com/Midnight-Deadline
THANK YOU.
Rufus
Rufus Gifford
National Finance Director
Obama for AmericaP.S. — Last call for the chance to fly to L.A. to meet President Obama at George Clooney’s house. Enter here — deadline is midnight.
Don’t these campaign finance people have better things to do than sit around all day writing and sending out demonstrably useless e-mail solicitations? Does this obvious disorganization/carelessness reflect badly on Obama, or is it just me?
Whatever the case, it seems not only desperate but also clueless that these nincompoops would think that, after ignoring their pleas to participate in a sweepstakes for a chance to meet Obama and Bill Clinton in his own neighborhood, any (heterosexual) man would jump at the chance to participate in one to fly way the hell to California for a chance to meet Obama and George Clooney. Insulting is not the word….