Hillary campaign to return all Hsu-related money

A couple of evening news round-up...

Hillary campaign decides to return all Hsu-related money in the total of $850,000, a big financial loss but probably a right thing to do.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/ 09/10/clinton-to-return-all-hsu-tainted- money/


Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign announced tonight that it would return approximately $850,000 to about 260 donors who had been recruited or tapped by Norman Hsu...

The Clinton campaign also disclosed tonight that it had decided to begin running criminal background checks on its bundlers.

A Clinton adviser said that "vigorous additional vetting" of the bundlers, including the criminal checks, would begin this week, and that the campaign was hiring additional staff for that purpose.

The Clinton adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal campaign deliberations, said that Mrs. Clinton "did not want the Hsu issue to be a distraction for the campaign, and wants to make sure this doesn't happen again."
"We wanted to get a few days ahead of any problems that come out, rather than be a few days behind them," the adviser said.

Full statement by  Mr. Wolfson's full on the issue follows:


In light of recent events and allegations that Mr. Norman Hsu engaged in an llegal investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of caution to return the money he raised for our campaign.

This week approximately 260 donors will receive refunds totaling approximately $850,000 from the campaign.

Mr. Hsu donated to numerous charities and more than two dozen candidates and committees. Despite conducting a thorough review of public records, our campaign, like these others, were unaware of Mr. Hsu's decade-plus old warrant.

To help ensure against this type of situation in the future, our campaign will also institute vigorous additional vetting procedures on our bundlers, including criminal background checks. In any instances where a source of a bundler's income is in question, the campaign will take affirmative steps to verify its origin.

A new Survey USA poll shows Hillary is holding a commanding lead in California.
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollRepo rtPopup.aspx?g=487589bb-87d0-4a2a-96b4-3 721541076b9&q=39991

Clinton 51
Obama 27
Edwards 14

On the GOP side, we are seeing a big Thompson 'surge', is it sustainalbe?

Giuliani 28%
Thompson 26%
Mccain 18%
Romney 14%

TN Executive, Paul Rosson, from home precinct of Fred Thompson, endorsed Hillary Clinton.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/

Who he?

Per Hillaryland, that's the Lawrence County, TN Executive, Paul Rosson, who I'm told just endorsed Clinton.

Lawrence County, of course, is the storied home precinct of one Fred Thompson.

"Small communities--like the county I represent--need a president that understands our struggles, and Hillary will be a partner we can count on in the White House," Rosson said in a statement via the campaign.

In preview of tomorrow's hearing, let's watch Hillary Clinton grilling Petreus about Bush's 'surge' strategy in his comfirmation hearing in January, 2007. She was professional but firm!



Display:


Re: Hillary campaign to return all Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

How do you embed youtube videos into your diary , I tried to do it and it didn't work.

Nice work by the way.


When I speak I have a southern drawl.. When you come down here Stop and say hello I'm an American from south of the Mason Dixon line
by lori on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 08:52:12 PM EST

Re: Hillary campaign to return all Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

There's a glitch. The trick is that you do it twice.

The first time is always some messy stuff, then you click on 'edit' button, cut & paste the 'embed code', and 'update' the diary. If you try this way, it should eventually work.


Hillary: We will finally have a president who doesn't mind pulling over and asking for directions. Am I right, ladies?
by areyouready on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 08:55:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hillary campaign to return all Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

Yeah thats the problem I always have the messy stuff , I'll try it your way .

Thanks.


When I speak I have a southern drawl.. When you come down here Stop and say hello I'm an American from south of the Mason Dixon line
by lori on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 08:58:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hillary campaign to return all Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

dam thing didn't work , i give up.


When I speak I have a southern drawl.. When you come down here Stop and say hello I'm an American from south of the Mason Dixon line
by lori on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 09:33:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hillary campaign to return all Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

I put 'embedded code'(youtube) inside 'extended entries' box only.


Hillary: We will finally have a president who doesn't mind pulling over and asking for directions. Am I right, ladies?
by areyouready on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 09:37:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hillary campaign to return all Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

try again, lori.  Just take the entire line that starts with <embed...   completely out after hitting edit, but before you do that you COPY it into memory.   Then you simply paste the segment right back where you cut it out from, hit update, and voila.  </p>

by georgep on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 10:10:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hillary campaign to return all Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

it worked guys , thanks . It was very frustrating because it turned out to be easy after all I tried.
When I speak I have a southern drawl.. When you come down here Stop and say hello I'm an American from south of the Mason Dixon line
by lori on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 10:30:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hillary campaign to return all Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

Lawrence County, TN

96.3% white
 Kerry vote share in 2004: 39.6


by dblhelix on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 09:02:41 PM EST

Re: Hillary campaign (none / 0)

Great news - good for her.


I don't care who's the nominee. I'm voting Democratic.
by JWR on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 09:11:32 PM EST

I am glad she did this (none / 0)

I called for this several times last week (and areyouready, hwc, and others attacked me for it) - saying it was ridiculous.

It took a lot for Clinton to do this, my opinion of her has raised some.


Bring Back MyDD - Just say No to Rec'ing Candidate Diaries.
by CardBoard on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 09:11:51 PM EST

It sure would be nice (none / 0)

if she would actually do the right thing before the uproar grows and she feels she has to.

Sure she did the right thing, but why does it seem like pulling teeth?


by okamichan13 on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 09:31:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Good move. (none / 0)

Hillary always turns lemons into lemonade.  This was the responsible thing to do.

Take heart, folks.  Even if Clinton is not your candidate, if she wins the nomination, she can't lose.  She's a professional.  Her campaign experience shines.  


by bookgrl on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 09:14:26 PM EST

Re: Good move. (none / 0)

It's almost $1 million.... Sigh.... But I agree it's better to get this distraction out ASAP.


Hillary: We will finally have a president who doesn't mind pulling over and asking for directions. Am I right, ladies?
by areyouready on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 09:16:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Good move. (2.00 / 1)

She also bends over backwards to avoid the appearance of financial impropropriety. It still blows my mind that the Clintons divested their entire blind trust stock portfolio and put it all in interest bearing bonds and cash equivalents for the duration of the campaign. I've never heard of a major politician doing that. It's really a remarkable step to avoid having any financial interest in any company or stock, even when it's all in a blind trust.


by hwc on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 09:41:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

lllll (none / 0)

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail /2007/09/10/clintons_to_return_850000_in _h.html?hpid=topnews


The Washington Post reported last week that Hsu helped host a fund-raiser for Barack Obama's political action committee back in 2005. The Democratic senatorial fundraising commitee acknowledged Hsu raised money for it, too, and the Democratic National Committee dislosed Hsu helped arrange an event with Party Chairman Howard Dean and prospective donors last month, just one day before the first news stories surfaced about Hsu's background surfaced.


Hillary: We will finally have a president who doesn't mind pulling over and asking for directions. Am I right, ladies?
by areyouready on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 09:22:01 PM EST

Re: Hillary campaign to return all (none / 0)

No, the state polls ARE going all towards Clinton these days, which is why all the polls look similar, with huge Clinton leads.   California is looking very good for Clinton (if you recall, Fields had a great CA poll a couple of weeks ago.)


by georgep on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 09:50:54 PM EST

Re: (none / 0)

Also CBS/NYT has a new poll out:

Clinton 44, Obama 26%, Edwards 17%

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/1 0/opinion/polls/main3248588.shtml

Rasmussen published its weekly poll:

Clinton 43%, Obama 23%, Edwards 14%

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_c ontent/politics/election_2008_1/weekly presidential_tracking_polling_history

Gallup's poll this morning puts the race at 21%.   Looks like the 18% to 22% poll margins are here to stay.  Some posters thought that the polls would tighten up some very soon, but so far they have not, quite the opposite.   The aggregate on RCP is now at exactly 18%.  


by georgep on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 10:08:11 PM EST

Edwards (none / 0)

There's a report several weeks ago on Edwards' 2004 fundraiser scandal. Their campaign refused to return the money even the guy was charged. Can somebody dig out that WoP article?


Hillary: We will finally have a president who doesn't mind pulling over and asking for directions. Am I right, ladies?
by areyouready on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 10:29:29 PM EST

Re: Hillary- Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

It's a smart move by Hillary if she is able to get these people to re-donate the money(which I'm sure they'll be asked to do), then that cash will count as 3rd quarter fund raising. Nice.


by Kingstongirl on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 10:49:03 PM EST

Re: Hillary- Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

damn, you're practical, just like Hillary.


by dblhelix on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 11:18:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hillary- Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

I don't think that's possible...the people whose money HRC's returning, still made a donation to the campaign - the campaign just chose to spend it on charity instead of campaign-related expenses.

Of course, it's entirely possible I'm wrong, and google doesn't say anything on the subject, but I'd be surprised if those donors could donate again.


I don't care who's the nominee. I'm voting Democratic.
by JWR on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 11:39:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Nope. (none / 0)

She gave Hsu's money to charity.  The donations Hsu collected she is returning to the individual donors.  


by bookgrl on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 11:41:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Nope. (none / 0)

Ah, that does make more sense.

Thanks for the clarification - I do agree that many of the donors will likely just send their checks back in the mail, which will be good for her fundraising.


I don't care who's the nominee. I'm voting Democratic.
by JWR on Mon Sep 10, 2007 at 11:45:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Nope. (none / 0)

Either way, it's the appropriate thing to do.  


by bookgrl on Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 12:05:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Nope. (2.00 / 1)

Definitely.


I don't care who's the nominee. I'm voting Democratic.
by JWR on Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 12:05:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Hillary campaign to return all Hsu-related mon (none / 0)

Well now, if anyone of us were undecided about Hillary before, this diary would be sure to change out minds.

Sheeze, can't you do better than this? You're slipping. No one sees through this crap. The Dems who do not agree with you are not a Hillary haters. We're good democrats who love Hillary but love our candidate more.

Get the fuck out of here.

Go Obama .... best wishes to Hillary!!!!!!!


Dare to be free.
by misscee on Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 02:11:29 AM EST


You are not logged in.

In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.

If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.