Major Clinton fundraiser defects to Obama

[mystieus]

From NBC's Chuck Todd


One of the things that both Dem campaigns are always nervous about is defectors. In particular, Clinton is more vulnerable to this problem since she's the candidate that is trailing. Well, NBC News has learned that a major fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, former Amb. to Chile Gabriel Guerra-Mondragon is leaving the campaign to join up Barack Obama's campaign. Officially dubbed a "Hillraiser," Guerra-Mondragon raised nearly $500,000 for Clinton's campaign, according to some estimates. He has been informing people inside Clintonworld this week in what's been described as some tough conversations. A formal announcement of a role for Guerra-Mondragon on Obama's national finance committee will be made next week. Guerra-Mondragon was appointed Amb. to Chile by Pres. Clinton in '94 and served until '98.

Among the reasons for Guerra-Mondragon to defect, according to one informed source, was he was uneasy with the tone of the Clinton campaign and was beginning to worry about what this would mean for the general election.

It's unclear if this defection will lead to others; the Clinton camp has been particularly effective at getting folks to keep their powder dry. For Obama, this comes at a time when his campaign is trying to re-convince insiders that the math indicates he has the nomination virtually wrapped up. In addition, Guerra-Mondragon's defection could serve as a tipping point with some key Hispanic Democratic leaders that Obama is ready to start making a bigger effort to court Hispanics.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/25/946650.aspx

[SoonerPride]

1. House. Of. Cards.

And the breeze is picking up.

[anonymous171]

2. Great news!

GOBAMA! :woohoo::bounce:

[Bigleaf]

3. Uh-Oh. Not good for Hillary.

[mcctatas]

4. What's that old saying about rats and ships?

something about rats and sinking?

:rofl:

way to go Hillary!

[nichomachus]

12. "When the water gets to the bridge -- follow the rats"

[NJmaverick]

5. This is the best news I heard today!

Thanks!

[truebrit71]

6. "...And the walls...come tumbling down, and the walls, come tumblin' tumblin' "...

..:thumbup:

[redqueen]

7. Right frickin on! I love that he's the former ambassador to Chile.

LOVE it.

[DJ13]

8. It looks like some in the Hillary camp woke up to the reality shes a Republican

Im glad some of them have enough scruples to understand that.

[axollot]

47. All hope for Hill isn't lost.....yet.....McCain still has yet to pick a running mate! n/t

[Eurobabe]

9. Bitchin!

:woohoo:

Que up the deck chairs.

[irish.lambchop]

10. Oh my. That's gonna leave a mark! n/t

[Coexist]

11. kick

[panAmerican]

13. Welcome home, Ambassador!

We've been waiting for you :pals:

[DemsUnited]

14. Yikes. The "dead to Hillary" list is getting longer every day...

Kick & Rec, thanks for posting.

[Catherina]

15. Makes you wonder why she wants to be President of a country thats 3/4 dead to her n/t

[ej510]

22. Thank God!

[Catherina]

16. That's great news

:woohoo:

[ScarletSniper]

17. And the death bell tolls louder!!

[NewHampshireDem]

18. Oh snap! Who's got that 'buyer's remorse' now? n/t

[Kittycat]

19. Most devastating analysis of this news...

It comes on the day that Obama & DNC join forces to fundraise, and again Clinton is out in the middle of an ocean without a paddle.

[BlueIdaho]

24. Good point!

Not only has the Obama campaign solidified its fanancial arrangement with the DNC - he is now bringing a serious fundraiser into the deal. Looks like the best of both worlds to me... 1.5 million individual donors and the clout of a serious fundraiser. This will be some war chest AND a compelling argument for the SDs.

[futureliveshere]

20. THIS IS GOOD NEWS!! Follow the money trail.

[mystieus]

21. Live feed of Obama meeting with some Indianapolis Star editors starting at 3 ET.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/NEWS0502/80425056

[mystieus]

30. Can someone post this as its own thread? I'm already past 3 threads for today :(

[invictus]

23. K & R

[tokenlib]

25. Carville's going to be spitting bile again...

ouch!!

[SoCalDem]

26. Never a good idea to stay onboard when the ship is sinking

and maybe this person just finally had enough...
and they went to OBAMA's team..

Probably has got some interesting tales to tell :rofl:

[ScarletSniper]

33. I believe its a she!

[SoCalDem]

35. that's..i de-gendered it..

:)

[ekwhite]

44. I believe Guerra-Mondragon is a he

I haven't found a picture, but all the articles I can find refer to Guerra-Mondragon as a he.

[DerekJ]

27. K & R

[and-justice-for-all]

28. It seems her saber rattleing has turned some people off...nt

[ProSense]

29. More

Key Puerto Rican "Hillraiser"-$500k Defects to Obama over Tone

[Ichingcarpenter]

31. No worries she always has these people to go to

Research support for this story was provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute. Published in conjunction with The Nation.
IN THE CLINTONS' PURSUIT OF POWER, there is no such thing as a strange bedfellow. One recently exposed inamorata was Norman Hsu, the mysterious businessman from Hong Kong who brought in $850,000 to Hillary Clinton's campaign before being unmasked as a fugitive. Her campaign dismissed Hsu as someone who'd slipped through the cracks of an otherwise unimpeachable system for vetting donors, and perhaps he was. The same cannot be said for the notorious financier Alan Quasha, whose involvement with Clinton is at least as substantial--and still under wraps.

Political junkies will recall Quasha as the controversial figure who bailed out George W. Bush's failing oil company in 1986, folding Bush into his company, Harken Energy, thus setting him on the path to a lucrative and high-profile position as an owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, and the presidency. The persistently unprofitable Harken--many of whose board members, connected to powerful foreign interests and the intelligence community, nevertheless profited enormously--faced intense scrutiny in the early 1990s and again during Bush's first term.
Now Quasha is back--on the other side of the aisle.

Operating below the radar, he entered Hillary Clinton's circle even before she declared her candidacy by quietly hiring Clinton confidant and longtime Democratic Party money man Terry McAuliffe at one of his companies. During the interregnum between McAuliffe's chairmanship of the Democratic Party and the time he officially joined Clinton's campaign, Quasha set McAuliffe up with a salary and opened a Washington office for him.

Just a few years earlier, McAuliffe had publicly criticized Bush for his financial dealings with Harken, disparaging the company's Enron-like accounting. Yet in 2005 McAuliffe accepted this cushy perch with Quasha's newly acquired investment firm, Carret Asset Management, and even brought along former Clinton White House business liaison Peter O'Keefe, who had been his senior aide at the Democratic National Committee. McAuliffe remained with the company until he became national chair of Hillary's presidential bid, and O'Keefe never left. McAuliffe's connection to Quasha has, until now, never been noted.

Another strong link between Quasha and Clinton is Quasha's business partner, Hassan Nemazee, a top Hillary fundraiser who was trotted out to defend her during the Hsu episode--in which the clothing manufacturer was unmasked as a swindler who seemingly funneled illegal contributions through "donors" of modest means.

In June, by liquidating a blind trust, the Clintons sought to distance themselves from any financial entanglements that might embarrass the campaign. Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson argued that the couple had gone "above and beyond" what was legally required "in order to avoid even the hint of a conflict of interest." But throughout their political careers, Bill and Hillary Clinton have repeatedly associated with people whose objectives seemed a million miles from "a place called Hope." Among these Alan Quasha and his menagerie--including Saudi frontmen, a foreign dictator, figures with intelligence ties and a maze of companies and offshore funds--stand out.

"That Hillary Clinton's campaign is involved with this particular cast of characters should give people pause," says John Moscow, a former Manhattan prosecutor. In the late 1980s and early '90s he led the investigation of the corrupt Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) global financial empire--a bank whose prominent shareholders included members of the Harken board. "Too many of the same names from earlier troubling circumstances suggests a lack of control over who she is dealing with," says Moscow, "or a policy of dealing with anyone who can pay.">>>>>snip


http://www.realnews.org/index.php-option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=189.htm

[powergirl]

32. I guess that $10 million internet fund raising thingy didn't persuade

this fundraiser. I think the debt is crippling that campaign. We don't know what lurks in the April financial disclosure reports. Fantastic news for the O-Man.

[Scurrilous]

34. K & R

:thumbsup:

[kenny blankenship]

36. See I told you Obama was a traitor! How are you going to trust your family's safety to this man?

He ENCOURAGES defectors!

[scheming daemons]

37. Rut-roh, Shaggy.......

The beginning of the end....

[powergirl]

38. Let me know if any Obama supporters defect to Clinton

Anyone who wants to wait with me, can park it right here. It's gonna be awhile. :popcorn:

[Pisces]

39. There hasn't been one yet, not a Super or anyone from his campaign. Interesting

Maybe the Hillary fans should take notice and ask themselves why? Her campaign stinks to high heaven and her people can't take it anymore.

[featherman]

40. kick for what this means

[Major Hogwash]

41. It will soon be over.

There's no way she can continue without money.

[Bonobo]

42. I-M-P-L-O-S-I-O-N. . . . . . . . WHOOOOOOOOOOSH. nt

[butterfly77]

43. He must have lost HOPE in the campaign,,,

YES SHE WILL!YES SHE WILL!YES SHE WILL!YES SHE WILL!YES SHE WILL!YES SHE WILL!...NOT!

[Hill on the Hill]

45. Obama to lose 49 states...

Lanny Davis says Obama loses 49 states to JM in general:

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2008/04/24/lanny-davis-mcgovernesque-obama-track-lose-49-states

[gateley]

46. OOPs - was TS'd by the time I extended my heartfelt welcome. nt

[axollot]

48. Smart move to switch sides if he wants a job in the new.....

administration of Jan '09 - obviously he's seen the writing on the wall and is jumping ship in time!

Cheers
Sandy
GOBAMA '08!!