Obama Meets With Donors(George Soros) in New York

[Logan13]

I would not vote for anyone who was backed by Soros..........

Obama Meets With Donors(George Soros) in New York
December 5, 2006
NY Times

Senator Barack Obama treaded onto Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s home turf last night to meet with prominent Democratic donors and feel out those who might prefer the sound of President Obama to President Clinton (as in Hillary, not Bill).

Amid intensifying presidential musings by Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Obama met with George Soros, the liberal billionaire philanthropist, then some other donors last night at Mr. Soros’s offices. Afterward he spoke at a charity event that was to be followed by a news conference.

One of the donors who met with Mr. Obama, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to offend Mrs. Clinton, said that he and several others had supported Mrs. Clinton’s Senate campaigns but were not committed to her as a presidential candidate.

“I like Hillary a lot, but I’m also impressed with Obama — his message, the way he connects to people,” said the donor, a prominent businessman. “It’s a little too early for Democrats to be certain that Hillary is the strongest bet for 2008. There are a lot of good people interested in running.”

Mr. Obama’s reconnaissance mission came as Mrs. Clinton was starting to talk about 2008 not only with New York elected officials, but also with some prominent donors whom she would like to lock in for a possible White House bid.

John Catsimatidis, a loyal Clinton donor, said he had recently received a phone call from Mrs. Clinton asking to have dinner before the holidays. He believes she wants to run for president and is moving to ramp up her Senate fund-raising operation for a White House campaign.

“I think they have a phenomenal political machine set up that’s far superior to any of the other candidates, or theoretical candidates,” Mr. Catsimatidis said. “Now they’re getting ready to put that machine to use.”

To that end, the Clinton team disclosed yesterday that they had a new national finance director lined up in case the senator decided to run. Jonathan Mantz, a fund-raiser for Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey and a former finance official for the Washington-based operations to elect a Democratic House and Senate, has agreed to work for her if she is a candidate.

“It’s not anything that is imminent,” said Howard Wolfson, a senior adviser to Senator Clinton. The senator is expected to decide this winter whether to create an exploratory presidential committee.

The Clinton team also announced that Phil Singer, a communications strategist for the Democrats’ successful takeover of the Senate last month, had agreed to play a similar role for Senator Clinton, should she run. Mr. Singer is a protégé of Senator Charles E. Schumer and was an aide on Senator John Kerry’s presidential campaign.

Derek Shearer, a former ambassador, a donor to President Bill Clinton’s campaigns and a supporter of Senator Clinton, said he believed that Mrs. Clinton’s moves did not reflect concern about financial or political competition from Mr. Obama or others, but rather an orderly process of consultation and preparation.

“She’s very deliberate about these things,” he said. “What most concerns her is, does she think she could win and really make a difference in the country.”

Supporters of Mr. Obama, a freshman senator from Illinois, described his New York visit as a combination of fact-finding and meet-and-greet as he considers whether to seek the Democratic nomination.

They said, and political analysts echoed, that Mr. Obama acknowledged Mrs. Clinton’s home-state advantage in New York, but that there was surging interest in Mr. Obama, an eloquent antiwar Democrat who, if successful, would be the country’s first black nominee for president.

“Most of the people Barack is seeing are either doing it out of respect for anyone who is a United States senator, or out of curiosity, or to leave their options open in case she decides not to run,” said Ken Sherrill, a political scientist at Hunter College. “I can’t imagine his picking up any significant support, but he can establish good will.”

Mr. Soros, an early supporter, was the host of a fund-raiser during Mr. Obama’s campaign for the Senate in 2004, said Michael Vachon, a senior aide to Mr. Soros. Mr. Obama’s staff asked to use the Soros offices for last night’s meetings since it was near the Midtown hotel where the senator spoke last night at a fund-raiser for K.I.D.S. (Kids in Distressed Situations), which assists children living in poverty.

Mr. Soros has not publicly endorsed or committed to any 2008 presidential hopeful.

While another possible Democratic candidate, Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, raised $500,000 in New York last week, others have been less aggressive in reaching out to New York donors than in past cycles, some of these donors say.

Former Senator John Edwards and former Vice President Al Gore have been in New York recently, and others plan to be, including Senator Joseph R. Biden of Delaware and Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa.

Yet the donors say that neither Mr. Edwards nor Mr. Obama, who are receiving perhaps the most buzz as possible opponents of Senator Clinton, nor anyone else has made an assertive push to challenge Mrs. Clinton and her local donor base in the aftermath of the 2006 elections.

[Kärnfysikern]

I dont understand this. Who would vote for hillary? Does she even have any support from democrats on the street? She seems like a wierd cat to me, not that I know shit about what she stands for realy.

[RA]

I dont understand this. Who would vote for hillary? Does she even have any support from democrats on the street? She seems like a wierd cat to me, not that I know shit about what she stands for realy.

She is odd. If Obama is going to run, hillary is out anyway