Hillary's money

[whometense]

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2006/11/21/clinton/index.html

...Where did all the money go? Although the outcome of her race was never in doubt, Kornblut and Zeleny say Clinton spent "upward of $30 million" on her reelection run, more than any other candidate for the Senate this year. Advertising and fundraising ate up $17 million, Kornblut and Zeleny say, and "tens of thousands of dollars a month" went to "an assortment of consultants and aides."

We'll presume that Clinton didn't need all of those consultants and aides to help her figure out how to beat John Spencer, whom she sent packing back to Yonkers with a 67-31 percent win. And all those advertising and fundraising expenditures could certainly bring dividends along the road to 2008. But if Clinton and her supporters thought some of her appeal would come from her inevitability, maybe folks on her campaign staff are thinking twice now about, say, the $160,000 they spent on travel by private jet, or the $27,000 for valet parking, or the $13,000 for flowers.

Clinton's advisors had predicted she'd have $20 million to $30 million on hand as she began to make plans for a White House run. Now she's down to somewhere around $14 million. That still may be more than any other Democratic candidate had, but it's not categorically more anymore. Which leads us to ask: If Hillary isn't inevitable, is she all that attractive to her fellow Democrats?

-- Tim Grieve

[whometense]

1. Mark Barrett:

http://thepremise.com/archives/11/21/2006/723

As the leader and sole visible member of the effort to depose Mr. Dean, Mr. Carville is now sufficiently radioactive that Hillary Clinton and her loyalists are distancing themselves from Mr. Carville, who was Bill Clinton’s former campaign manager.

Insiders from the Clinton camp winced at Carville’s untimely remarks last week calling for Dean’s ouster in favor of unsuccessful Senate candidate Harold Ford of Tennessee.

“It was not coming from and they made a real effort to distance themselves from James’ comments,” said a source close to the Clintons.

Let’s be clear about this. James Carville may have overplayed his hand. He may have acted clumsily, even ineptly. But Bill and Hillary Clinton knew what he was up to before he launched his attack, and they approved. If they had not approved Mr. Carville would not have sought Mr. Dean’s outster.

[wisteria]

2. This is a good day! n/t

[sandrakae]

3. Here is a link to the break down of where the money was spent.

http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=4805

[ProSense]

4. That's an amazing graphic! Thanks!

It should be posted in GD-P as is!