Sen. Clinton Using Surrogates to Reach Anti-War Congress Members [View All]

[AnnInLa]

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/feb/19/source_hillary_campaign_reaching_out_via_surrogates_to_antiwar_members_of_congress


Source: Hillary Campaign Reaching Out Via Surrogates To Antiwar Members Of Congress
By Greg Sargent | bio

This is interesting: A high-level Democrat tells me that several of Hillary Clinton's senior advisers are reaching out to top Dem donors and other political leaders with connections in Congress to ask them to make Hillary's case on the Iraq war privately to highly-visible antiwar members of Congress.

The idea appears to be to get these go-betweens to suggest to prominent antiwar members of Congress such as Russ Feingold and John Murtha that they either back Hillary or vouch for her position on Iraq.

snip

The effort was described by my source as not completely formal or orchestrated, but as something clearly viewed as important by Hillary advisers. "Clearly it's a strategy they're pursuing," the source says.

The campaign is not so much to get outright endorsements from such members of Congress, the source emphasized (though that certainly wouldn't be rejected, of course). The goal is more to get visible antiwar Congress people to vouch for Hillary's antiwar credentials, which she's being quizzed about due to her backing for the 2002 resolution authorizing Bush to go to war.

"It's about getting people in Congress to say, She's a leader now, she's with them, she's on the same page," the source says, adding that Congress people who might not be able to bring themselves to okay her previous vote are being encouraged to "at least praise her for her current position."

more at link above