Ready for Hillary woos big donors, including Obama bundlers, for 2016
An impressive legion of deep-pocketed Democrats, including many of President Obama's biggest campaign bundlers, are lining up to help assemble the scaffolding for a potential Hillary Clinton 2016 White House bid.
More than 200 donors have signed up to co-chair the national finance council of Ready for Hillary, the powerhouse super PAC urging the former secretary of state to run for president, according to the Washington Post. Co-chairs are required to raise or donate $25,000 each; over 600 other members of the finance council are tasked with $5,000.
Independent of a Clinton campaign should she decide to run, Ready for Hillary reported $8.2 in its coffers through the end of June.
In addition to major players from her 2008 rival's campaign machine, Clinton backers include the Hollywood elite, Wall Street heavyweights and tech industry magnates, to name a few. Adam Parkhomenko, co-founder and executive director of Ready for Hillary, told the Post the finance council is "very representative of what a potential Hillary Clinton campaign finance council will look like.
"...You have people who've been supporting her for 10, 20, 30 years; you've got people who've never made a contribution to any political campaign before; and you have people who were really active in 2008 and 2012 for President Obama's campaigns," he said.
Clinton's also held onto longtime loyalists. One founding member of the council is Susie Tompkins Buell, a San Francisco-based philanthropist and entrepreneur who played a key fundraising role in Clinton's 2008 bid.
Though Clinton has remained stubbornly cagey about her intentions in 2016, she's well primed to assume the role as Democratic frontrunner should she decide to throw her hat in the ring. While Ready for Hillary caps donations at $25,000, another Clinton-associated super PAC - Priorities USA - offers a vehicle for big money.
Legal structures designed to raise and spend unlimited mounts of campaign cash, super PACs are a new development since Clinton's 2008 presidential bid.
Meanwhile, Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton last month reported raking in $200 million since last summer for their family's namesake foundation, readying it to comfortably subsist in the event of a presidential run by the dynasty matriarch. They also announced they would begin entreating small donors - a tactical shift that could aggregate an invaluable fundraising list for 2016.