Bill Clinton
Chelsea Entering The Family Biz?
Dec 4th - 10:38 am
As her mother — politely, we assume — shoots down the idea of running for mayor of New York City, Chelsea Clinton is dipping her toe into her father’s NGO, the Clinton Foundation.
In an email to supporters today, Chelsea Clinton sent out a laudatory message for her father, former President Bill Clinton. But the source of the email is especially intriguing: the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
From the email:
My dad is usually the first to say that it’s people like you, working together who create change in the world. And I couldn’t agree more.
I also think he deserves a big “thank you” for everything he’s done in the past year – especially the inspiring work that doesn’t make the headlines, like personally checking on the progress of a soy factory in Rwanda this summer and helping give more American kids access to healthy meals throughout the school year.
I’m helping the Clinton Foundation collect thousands of personal messages of thanks from people like you to share with my dad. Will you write him a quick thank you note today?
Her involvement is not that surprising. Back in August, Vogue reported that Chelsea’s exposure to the Clinton Foundation has spurred a renewed interest for public service.
Chelsea’s mother, soon-to-be-former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is still pondering her next act, which surely will include a lucrative book deal. All eyes, of course, are watching her for what she plans to do come 2016.
Clinton Robocalls For Owens
Nov 5th - 1:56 pm
Former President Bill Clinton has had a busy robocalling schedule these last few days on behalf of Democratic New York House candidates.
Clinton, who recorded a robocall for his former aide Sean Patrick Maloney in the Hudson Valley, this afternoon endorsed Rep. Bill Owens.
Text of the call is below.
Clinton, obviously, is and remains a tremendous asset for Democrats in the GOTV category.
Still, the district is heavily Republican, and Clinton, even 12 years after leaving office, remains a unifying force for Democrats, but a possibly divisive one for independent and Republican voters.
The news of the robocall comes almost simultaneously with word that Owens, like Democrat Dan Maffei in central New York, has filed a court order to impound ballots ahead of tomorrow’s vote — a sign that the race against Republican Matt Doheny will be as close as the public polls have suggested.
“Hello. This is President Bill Clinton. I’m calling to ask you to support Bill Owens for Congress this Tuesday. Bill’s got a strong record of fighting for middle class families in upstate NY, and he has what it takes to create jobs and grow the economy. He knows we have to balance the budget, and do it in the right way by cutting wasteful spending and not giving more tax breaks to millionaires. I’m proud to support Bill Owens because he’s the only candidate who will fight for middle class families and their future. I hope Bill can count on your support Tuesday. Thanks.”
Cuomo Backs Maloney In NY-18
Nov 3rd - 11:43 am
Sean Patrick Maloney’s campaign announced this morning that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has endorsed the Democratic congressional hopeful in his bid to unseat NY-18 Rep. Nan Hayworth.
“Sean Patrick Maloney will work to restore the economy of the Hudson Valley and get people back to work,” Cuomo said in a statement released by the Maloney campaign.
“He will be a great advocate for our state in Washington. I urge you to vote for Sean Patrick Maloney for Congress.”
I have to admit to being a tiny bit surprised about this one.
Cuomo did not endorse Maloney in advance of the five-way Democratic primary back in September, even though he threw his support to other candidates, including embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel.
Maloney, a former top aide in the Spitzer and Paterson administrations, played a role in the aftermath of the Troopergate scandal (he was the former governor’s internal counsel), which Cuomo investigated in his former role as state attorney general.
From time to time in the campaign, Hayworth has brought up Troopergate in hopes of tarnishing Maloney’s record.
Maloney tends to gloss over the specifics of his time in Albany, saying (as he does in the press release that announced Cuomo’s support) that he “served in the administrations of two Democratic governors of New York, focusing on education and infrastructure policy.”
Then again, Maloney and Cuomo have something in common that pre-dates Troopergate: They both worked in the Clinton White House – a fact Maloney has reminded voters of over and over in mailers and TV ads and during debates.
Clinton, a Chappaqua resident (which makes him a constituent of Rep. Nita Lowey, like Cuomo), has endorsed Maloney and appeared at a rally for him last weekend.
The event didn’t receive as much coverage as it might have under normal pre-Election Day circumstances, thanks to hurricane Sandy.
Maffei Ad Touts Clinton Endorsement
Oct 27th - 12:19 pm
Democrat Dan Maffei, who’s trying to win back his seat from the Republican who ousted him from it in 2010, Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, was one of several New York congressional contenders boosted recently by brief visits from Bill Clinton.
Maffei is now up with a new TV ad touting his support from the former president.
It’s pretty straightforward, and also mentions his endorsement by the New York Times.
The press release announcing this ad trumpeted the fact that it’s a “positive” spot, which says a lot about the nature of the NY-24 race and the barrage of attack ads it has generated to date.
Clinton To Campaign For Maloney
Oct 26th - 11:56 am
Former President Bill Clinton will hold a campaign rally for his former aide, Democratic House candidate Sean Patrick Maloney, in Somers on Sunday, his campaign announced this morning via email.
Maloney, who faces Republican incumbent Rep. Nan Hayworth, frequently mentions his time in the Clinton administration, where he worked on civil justice issues.
Clinton endorsed Maloney in June.
The former president, now a Westchester County resident, has held several rallies for House candidates, including Reps. Louise Slaughter and Kathy Hochul, who Cuomo is stumping for today.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, another Clinton alum, is crisscrossing the state today on behalf of several Democratic congressional candidates, but Maloney isn’t one of them (to be fair, Cuomo did endorse Rep. Bill Owens, but isn’t campaign for him today, either).
Cuomo and Maloney competed for the Democratic nomination for attorney general in 2006 and later tangled over the troopergate investigation.
“I’m honored to have President Bill Clinton join us this weekend in the final days of our fight to defeat the Tea Party here in the Hudson Valley,” Maloney said in a statement. “Working with President Clinton in the White House, I learned how to do what the Tea Party won’t: create jobs and balance the budget—without even thinking about ending Medicare’s guaranteed benefit.”
Slaughter Airs Clinton Ad
Oct 25th - 4:04 pm
The value of having Bill Clinton come to endorse your candidacy doesn’t end after he’s left town.
Rep. Louise Slaughter gave the popular former president a starring role in her latest TV ad, drawing from the same public event in which Clinton also appeared for Democratic Rep. Kathy Hochul.
Clinton To Rally For Maffei, Hochul And Slaughter
Oct 16th - 3:25 pm
Former President Clinton is taking some time off from his role of surrogate-in-chief for President Obama for a quick visit Friday to Central and Western New York to boost the campaigns of three Democratic congressional candidates.
Clinton will stop first at Syracuse’s Hancock International Airport, where he will host a rally for former Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei, who is trying to win back his seat from the Republican who took it from him in 2010, Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle.
Clinton headlined a similar rally for Maffei at the tail end of the 2010 campaign. But his presence wasn’t enough to push Maffei over the finish line to victory; he lost a tight race to Buerkle.
The fight for NY-24 is now viewed as one of the most competitive congressional contests in the country. Some $6.2 million has already been spent on this race, with three weeks still remaining in the election.
After his Maffei rally, which starts at 1:30 p.m., Clinton will head to the Rochester Riverside Convention Center where he will do a two-for-one event for Reps. Kathy Hochul and Louise Slaughter, both of whom are fighting for their political lives this fall.
Hochul is in a tight race with her Republican opponent, former Erie County Executive Chris Collins, in NY-27, which was redrawn during redistricting to become New York’s most GOP-dominated district.
Slaughter is fighting Republican Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks in the re-drawn NY-25, which is no longer the so-called “earmuff” district and is now located entirely within the confines of Monroe County – a boost for Brooks.
A Siena poll released over the weekend showed Brooks has halved Slaughter’s 10-point lead over the past three weeks.
Slaughter released the following statement about Clinton’s impending visit:
“I’m excited to welcome my friend President Clinton to Rochester and Monroe County. His visit will remind voters that the way to economic prosperity and a balanced budget is through lifting up the middle class and providing opportunity to all, not handing out massive tax breaks for those at the top and hoping it works out for the rest of us. That’s the choice in this election, and I’m certain that President Clinton will make that choice very clear on Friday.”
Hochul also confirmed the Clinton rally and released this statement:
“It is a tremendous privilege to welcome President Clinton to Monroe County. President Clinton represents the very best of bi-partisan leadership, and his record demonstrates the positive progress we can make when Democrats and Republicans work together to grow our economy, strengthen the middle class, and balance the budget.”
Doors to the event open at 3:30 p.m. It’s open to the public, and tickets can be accessed here or here.
Bill Clinton: Obama ‘Clear Choice’ Over Romney For Economy
Aug 23rd - 6:12 am
Just in time for the GOP convention at which Mitt Romney will be formally nominated to take on President Obama in November…
The president’s re-election campaign has released a new TV ad in which former President Bill Clinton endorses the administration’s approach to boosting the economy – an issue voters say tops their lists of concerns this election season.
In the ad, Clinton says Obama is the “clear choice” to bring the US back to “full employment” and insists “we need to keep going with his plan.”
He doesn’t mentioned Romney by name, but says the GOP’s policies of cutting taxes on the rich and deregulation are “what got us in trouble in the first place.”
Clinton says Obama’s proposals to strengthen the middle class will eventually put the economy back on track, adding: “That’s what happened when I was president.”
The ad will air in a handful of key states: New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada.
Clinton will also be speaking at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, NC.
Becker’s Contrast Mailer vs. Maloney (Updated)
Jun 21st - 2:45 pm
Richard Becker clearly considers the NY-18 Democratic primary a two-man race, even though five candidates’ names will appear on the ballot next Tuesday.
A reader forwarded a photo of a mailer Becker sent out recently, in which he touts his endorsement by the New York Times and also puts himself forward as the “strongest Democrat to defeat Tea Party extremist (Rep.) Nan Hayworth” in the November general election.
The weakest candidate, in Becker’s opinion: Maloney.
The mailer hits Maloney on a variety of topics – from his involvement in the post-Troopergate scandal damage control for former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, to the fact that he has never held elected office and received only 9 percent of the vote in his campaign for state attorney general in 2006. Becker, by contrast, is a Cortland town councilman who “recently forced Hayworth’s chief strategist to resign.” (Recall l’affaire Townsend).
Maloney was a late add to the already crowded Democratic field in NY-18, and he was not a resident of the district when he decided to run. (To be fair, almost none of the Dem contenders were, thanks to redistricting. Becker lived in the district until it was redrawn, and has said he’ll move. Maloney and his partner, Rondy Florke, have had a home in Sullivan County for a number of years, and recently puchased another in the district.
Maloney hit the ground running, posting some strong fundraising numbers and also locking up the endorsements of several powerful labor unions. He has played up his time in the Clinton White House, getting the former president’s endorsement and a robocall, too.
But Becker has enjoyed a last-minute surge, thanks in part to that Times endorsement. In the end, this race – like all the other primaries next week – is probably going to have low turnout and be won by whoever has the best GOTV operation, which might give Maloney an edge, thanks to his labor backers like SEIU 1199.
Also in the race: Wappingers Falls Mayor Matt Alexander, Tuxedo Park Mayor Tom Wilson, and Duane Jackson, a handbag vendor whose claim to fame is that he alerted police to the smoking SUV used in the failed 2010 Times Square bomb plot.
UPDATE: CityandState’s Laura Nahmias has more on the question of Maloney’s residency – he has re-registered to vote several times, thanks to redistricting, and in March used a New York City mailing address on one of those forms – and an anonymous response from a Maloney source calling this mailer “bitter, shrill and negative”.
I also just received a lengthy response to the response from Becker’s campaign, which appears after the jump.
Bill Clinton Robos For Sean Maloney
Jun 19th - 5:01 pm
With the June 26 primary less than a week away, the intra-party battles are heating up all over the state. Lots of mailers and robocalls are starting to hit. Here’s the latest, recorded by former President Clinton, for his onetime aide, Sean Patrick Maloney.
Maloney, a former top official in the Spitzer and Paterson administrations, is one of five Democrats running in NY-18. Whoever wins next Tuesday will continue on to challenge Republican Rep. Nan Hayworth in the November general election.
Maloney has been playing up his Clinton connection hard in this race. Not so much his time in the Spitzer/Paterson administrations, although he’s not shying away from it, either. His role in the so-called Troopergate scandal (he acted as the former governor’s in-house attorney during the investigation, conducted by none other than then-AG Andrew Cuomo, against whom Maloney ran in the 2006 Democratic AG primary), cost him the New York Times endorsement. (The Gray Lady went with Richard Becker instead).
Here’s the script of the robo from Clinton, who happens to be a Westchester County resident (is Chappaqua in NY-18, does anyone know?):
“Hello, this is President Bill Clinton, I’m calling to tell you why I endorse Sean Patrick Maloney for Congress in the June 26th Democratic Primary.”
“Sean worked closely with me in the White House. I know how much he knows about our economy, how much he cares, what his values are, what his talents are. And I know he’ll be an outstanding member of Congress. He was part of our team that created jobs, grew our economy and balanced the budget. I think he’s the best candidate in the race to take on the Tea Party and put people back to work. So I hope you’ll vote for Sean on Tuesday June 26th. Thanks.”
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