Some people may remember the slight of hand tricks she's been playing for several years now.
Here's a little look down the memory hole.
Senator Clinton, reelected in November to a second term by a whopping 67% of her constituents, has yet to officially green light a 2008 race. But Federal Election Commission papers quietly filed with the Secretary of the Senate last week reveal how much of a fundraising edge she would have over rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Mrs. Clinton ends 2006 with $13,145,637 in her campaign war chest. That’s the $14,369,100 cash on hand in her Friends of Hillary account minus $1,234,463 in debts.
Because her senate campaign fund was for a federal office, the balance is legally convertible to a presidential campaign committee. Funds from political action committees, or PACs, even those set up by presidential hopefuls, are not convertible. So, for example, Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s $755,000 in his senate coffers is convertible to a White House run, but the $810,000 in his Hopefund, Inc. PAC is not.
There were question being raised even then about what happened to all that cash (50 million) when she didn't even have an opponent. But less than a year later we know.
Despite her obfuscation on 2008 questions and ducking in debates whether she’d pledge to serve a full six-year term, Senator Clinton’s campaign spending told a clearer story.
When she publicly launched her reelection bid at the state Democratic convention in May, she had already spent $20 million, and that was when she was yet to produce a TV ad or have an opponent.
Our review of her itemized campaign expenditures found her campaign had spent two-thirds of its funds on direct mail, telemarketing, fundraising events, and travel – in other words, building a national infrastructure of donors. The senator now has more than 250,000 donors in her database. And they can all give to her again for 2008, even after the leftover Senate money is transferred.
Soooo, we were jiving all the while about serving out the term, while spending 35 million dollars given to her to run for re-election is used to set up a national infrastructure. Now ,if I were one of those donors, I think I might be questioning HER character.
The whole story is here :
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2006/12/11/primarysource/entry2249441.shtml