For Shanghai Fair, Famous Fund-Raiser Delivers

[Beacool]

By MARK LANDLER and DAVID BARBOZA
Published: January 2, 2010

WASHINGTON — In the hectic last week before she became secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton squeezed in a Bon Jovi benefit concert in New York, part of a frantic effort to pay off the debt from her presidential campaign. No sooner had she arrived at the State Department than Mrs. Clinton discovered she needed to start raising money all over again.

This time, the cash-starved beneficiary was not her own campaign but the United States, which needed $61 million to finance the construction of a national pavilion at a world’s fair in Shanghai. Under federal law, no public money could be used for the project. And Mrs. Clinton, as a federal official, could no longer solicit private financial donations herself.

So she turned to her well-established network of Clinton fund-raisers, and after negotiating with the State Department’s lawyers about what she could legally do herself to support the project, she mounted an ambitious fund-raising campaign that has netted close to $54 million in barely nine months.

With multimillion-dollar pledges from PepsiCo, General Electric, Chevron and other American corporations, the United States is on track to open a sleek, 60,000-square-foot pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010, which runs from May through October.

The prospect of the nation’s chief diplomat asking for money worried government lawyers, according to officials. Referring to the first secretary of state, one lawyer asked, “Would Thomas Jefferson do this?” They imposed strict limits on the kinds of calls or other contacts she could make, allowing her to promote the pavilion but prohibiting any one-on-one appeals for cash.

Despite those restrictions, and a dismal economy, Mrs. Clinton is closing in on her $61 million goal. She is clearly proud of the effort, which staved off what could have been a rupture in American-Chinese relations. In a year in which she has mostly worked to prove herself a loyal member of the Obama team, the campaign also showcases her enduring political drawing power.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/world/asia/03clinton.html?hp

Great!!! It would have been embarrassing for the US not to have a pavilion at the fair.

:-)

[karynnj]

1. Why is anyone unrecommending this?

I recommended and saw it was still <0.

It is good that money was raised in this time period - although money is always raised for this and the Olympics. Nice that HRC took on the role of coordinating it.

[Beacool]

2. Oh, that's very simple.

Some unrec any thread I start. Very childish of them, particularly as I have yet to unrec anyone's post. Not my style......

:eyes:

Happy New Year!!!

:hi:

[karynnj]

3. Happy New Year to You

:hi:

I have unrecommended threads, but mostly ones I alerted on. Never one giving information on the actions of any prominent Democrat. That is childish. Even if they are doing something I disagree with (Think Lieberman, not Clinton), it is valid information to post.

[Beacool]

4. Thank you!!!

As for the unrec feature, I don't like it. I think that it's rude and some people use it cowardly by unrec'ing anonymously and not posting a response explaining their reasons for doing so. Therefore, I have never used it. When I have something to say, I say it.

:(

[PBS Poll-435]

5. K&R

:D

[Beacool]

7. Thank you, PBS!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

May you have a healthy, safe and prosperous year.

:pals:

[FrenchieCat]

6. K&R

Excellent work, she's been doing.

[Beacool]

8. Thanks, Frenchie!!

Happy New Year to you and yours!!!

:hi: