As Hillary tries to assure the progressive-socialist base of her party that she is not beholden to corporate or Wall Street money, super PACs supporting her campaign are purposefully wooing these same deep-pocketed donors.
Two powerful organizations within the Democratic establishment announced steps Friday that have the potential to provide substantial financial firepower to presidential contender Hillary Clinton by drawing on the support of wealthy donors and corporate interests.. . . . Priorities USA Action, the main super PAC supporting Clinton, unleashed a $5 million infusion of spending on her behalf, upending plans to hold its fire until the general election. The move calls attention to growing concern within the party’s leadership that her campaign may be in trouble, and it underscores how crucial several upcoming contests have become in Clinton’s battle with Sanders, a senator from Vermont.In addition, the Democratic National Committee announced that it had rolled back restrictions introduced by presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008 that banned donations from federal lobbyists and political action committees.
These moves will, as the Washington Post notes, provide further fodder for the Sanders campaign.
While providing a likely boost to Clinton, both developments also give rival Bernie Sanders fresh fodder to highlight her relationship with Wall Street and other special interests at a time when the two candidates are locked in an intense nomination fight.
Noting that “both actions could backfire” for Team Hillary, the Washington Post continues:
Sanders has gained traction with his core argument that special interests have “rigged” the economy against the lower and middle classes. Although Clinton has repeatedly denied that she has been influenced by donations or speaking fees from Wall Street, the likely new flow of money to her campaign could add grist to Sanders’s case.As if to prove the point, the Sanders campaign issued a news release Friday with this headline: “Clinton Wall Street-Funded Super PAC Enters Democratic Primary Against Sanders.” And later in the day, Sanders’s campaign communications director, Michael Briggs, called the DNC decision “an unfortunate step backward. We support the restrictions that President Obama put in place at the DNC, and we hope Secretary Clinton will join us in supporting the president.”Sanders has received the vast majority of his funding through online, small-dollar donations. He has said regularly on the campaign trail that the average donation to his campaign is $27.
The DNC and the Hillary campaign have undoubtedly noted her massive drop in the polls (and/or Bernie’s rise in them), and are willing to take the gamble that this new influx of money from their bases’ “enemies” will counterbalance whatever negative feelings it may arouse.
That could happen because the people who already support Bernie over Hillary no doubt weighed in her strong ties to both Wall Street and the “evils” of corporate America and weren’t going to change their minds, anyway. With more cash, she may be able to rouse some support from the many (many) demographic groups who currently don’t care for her . . . and those Democrat voters who aren’t overly-enthusiastic about Bernie, either.
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