‘The Situation’ is ‘Hillary’s Money’ & ‘Closing the Gap’
EmailABC News’ David Chalian and Sunlen Miller Report: Making Senator Hillary Clinton a bogeyman for fundraising is usually the province of Republicans.
But now that Clinton, D-N.Y., has more primary cash on hand than he does ($35 to $32 million), Senator Barack Obama has sent out a fundraising appeal to supporters in which he slams Clinton for taking federal lobbyist and PAC money and calls her a part of "the most entrenched political machine in Democratic politics."
This fundraising appeal mirrors the more direct level of engagement we are seeing from Obama, D-Ill., on the trail. He has acknowledged that we are in the next phase of the campaign — which apparently is one that involves Obama taking Clinton on in a more overt and direct manner.
The email, entitled a feisty "Hillary’s money", shipped out to supporters at 4:14am ET, just a little over four hours after the latest fundraising figures were made public by the Federal Election Commission.
But wait –- there’s more.
A second and third early-morning email was also sent out by the campaign to supporters. The body of the messages were the same as the first, but the subject line was different: one was entitled "Close the Gap," the other, "The Situation" –- both far less aggressive than the one mentioning candidate Clinton by name.
The changing of the subject line highlights a nuanced strategy, as campaigns regularly test the success of individual fundraising appeals on a case by case, or in this instance –- an email by email basis.
Here’s the full version (of all three Obama appeals):
Last night each of the presidential campaigns reported their third-quarter fundraising numbers.
The results are clear. We continue to build the largest grassroots movement in history, but Washington lobbyists and special interests rallied to help Hillary Clinton out-raise us for the first time.
If we want real change in this country, then we need to prove that together we are stronger than the lobbyist-driven money machine that has dominated Washington for too long.
The situation here is simple. We are $2.1 million behind. We must close that gap right now. I need you to make a donation of $25:
https://donate.barackobama.com/gap
Hillary Clinton aggressively seeks money from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs. She’s even said that these lobbyists represent real Americans.
She’s wrong.
I think it’s time to turn the page on that kind of politics, and that’s why I have not accepted a dime from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs in this race. We rely on a network of more than 350,000 ordinary people to make us competitive — more supporters than all the other Democratic candidates combined.
Washington lobbyists have chosen their candidate and are determined to provide her with an overwhelming advantage. But you can even up this contest.
In the face of the most entrenched political machine in Democratic politics, I believe a movement of ordinary Americans can change our country. And you can prove that right now.
I need you to make a donation to close the gap:
https://donate.barackobama.com/gap
Barack
USS Gabrielle Giffords Honors Courage 
Mitt Romney's Full Speech at CPAC 2012
Guess what…he’ll get it too. my friends and I are each pledgeing to raise $20k this quarter among friends and family
Posted by: Toni | October 16, 2007, 10:14 am 10:14 am
GOP targeting Clinton on phone-call snooping
Republicans are focusing on an allegation in a recent book by two Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters, which suggests Clinton listened to a secretly recorded conversation between political opponents.
In their book about Clinton’s rise to power, Her Way, Don Van Natta Jr., an investigative reporter at The New York Times, and Jeff Gerth, who spent 30 years as an investigative reporter at the paper, wrote: “Hillary’s defense activities ranged from the inspirational to the microscopic to the down and dirty. She received memos about the status of various press inquiries; she vetted senior campaign aides; and she listened to a secretly recorded audiotape of a phone conversation of Clinton critics plotting their next attack.
“The tape contained discussions of another woman who might surface with allegations about an affair with Bill,” Gerth and Van Natta wrote in reference to Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton. “Bill’s supporters monitored frequencies used by cell phones, and the tape was made during one of those monitoring sessions.”
It’s been clear that since 1986 it was illegal to intercept an individual cell phone call,” said Barry Steinhardt, the director of the technology and liberty program at the American Civil Liberties Union
Posted by: Tom | October 16, 2007, 10:21 am 10:21 am
AT last, we have bucked the force-feeding
by the Democratic establishment.
I’ve maxed out for Barack. I can’t afford it, but I can’t afford not too..
Smokey
Posted by: Smokey from Mt. Pleasant, S.C. | October 16, 2007, 10:53 am 10:53 am
Senator Clinton will be the next President of this great country.Join forces in unity and STOP the nit pickin’It is time for all citizens to take THEIR stand.She truly is the most capable to lead us back to a healthy and HAPPY America.She cares for all of the people not just the chosen few that Bush-Cheney presided over.
The dignity and prestige in World standing will make everyone Proud.She will lead us out of war and conquer PEACE!!!!!Help Hillary WIN!!
Posted by: De | October 16, 2007, 5:35 pm 5:35 pm
I also donated.Barack will be the next POTUS.As for HRC there is nothing she can do about it! she is the Lobbyists Choice.Barack is the American Peoples choice.
Posted by: darin | October 16, 2007, 11:36 pm 11:36 pm
I am an Obama supporter who is retired. I donated immediately when I received the e-mail. His supporters have raised nearly one million as of this moment. It has all been done online. Our nation and the peoples of the world need this incredible man who can unite us and lead us.
Posted by: SFT | October 17, 2007, 2:58 pm 2:58 pm