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Posted: October 2, 2007 6:27 PM
Clinton Keeps Mum on Cash but Is Mocked for Her Laugh
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After Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced Wednesday that it had raised $27 million in the past three months, outpacing Sen. Barack Obama for the first time, Washingtonpost.com’s Chris Cillizza blogged that, “Unlike the first two quarters, Clinton kept her numbers closely guarded; no estimates leaked out. Even after Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) announced yesterday that he had raised $20 million ($19 million in primary cash) the Clinton campaign uttered not a peep.”

The good news of the money reports came after a spate of recent criticism, including pieces by Slate and The Daily Show commenting on her laugh. In an analysis of how the press is treating the former first lady, Politico.com’s Mike Allen and John Harris wrote “Such mockery represents a distinct turn in her coverage of this year. Until lately, most of it has focused on a supposedly ‘New Hillary’: someone who is rapidly closing the gap between her husband’s and her own political skills, which she has put to use coolly swatting aside potential rivals for the nomination. A convergence of factors is now putting emphasis on the supposedly ‘Old Hillary’: someone who is ruthless in self-advancement, who may get tripped in the end by her and her husband’s overreaching.”

And Jennifer Senior provided her thoughts on what a potential Hillary-Bill White House would look like in the current issue of New York Magazine: “Certainly a Clinton restoration would effect a return to Democratic principles. But it wouldn’t necessarily effect a return to Clintonism. What this theory ignores is Hillary’s genuine independence from her husband. From 1993 forward, she’s kept a separate and distinct staff-fanatically loyal, tight-lipped, mostly female-making it hard to imagine how he’d fit comfortably into the West Wing. Their leadership styles and characterological differences couldn’t be more distinct: Hillary runs a tight ship and has little tolerance for wiftiness; where he’s inclined to meander, she’s inclined to drill down. She listens better than he does. Yet she’s warier of people than he is. She doesn’t believe that everyone’s susceptible to reason and gentle persuasion.”

Clinton was in Tucson, Ariz., and Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. She plans to stay in the District for Wednesday’s Hispanic Caucus Forum, then has no public campaign events scheduled for Thursday or Friday. On Saturday, Clinton is scheduled to travel to Iowa for the Johnson County Annual Barbeque.