Obama bundlers missing from Clinton’s donors
Just 76 heavy hitters hit $100,000 mark
Hundreds of wealthy Democrats who raised money for President Obama’s reelection have not yet joined the top fundraising ranks of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, raising hopes among some of Vice President Biden’s supporters that there remains a path for his late entry into the race.
Just 76, or less than 10%, of the 833 individuals who collected political cash for the 2012 ObamaBiden campaign are listed among Clinton’s “Hillblazers,” her campaign’s designation for people who already have bundled to- gether at least $100,000 on her behalf, a USA TODAY analysis of Clinton’s newly updated fundraiser list shows.
Biden loyalists have sought to assure his supporters in recent days that there is still a viable route to the nomination, despite Clinton’s commanding debate performance Tuesday in Las Vegas and her early fundraising dominance over the 2016 field.
In a letter Thursday to Biden’s political network, one of his longest-serving advisers, former Delaware senator Ted Kaufman, pledged an “optimistic campaign” from Biden should he seek the presidency. Kaufman suggested that Biden was close to a decision.
Asked about the Obama donors on the sidelines and whether their absence provided an opening for Biden, Clinton’s camp pointed to the big pool of donors she already has amassed and her aggressive push to build a ground operation that extends far beyond early voting states. “We are grateful to the nearly 400,000 people who have contributed,” spokesman Josh Schwerin said.
It’s hard to pin down exactly how much of an opening remains for Biden among Democratic fundraisers who helped the Obama-Biden ticket win a second term. Campaign-finance reports show scores of Obama’s bundlers giving $2,700 to Clinton, the most an individual can give to her campaign for the primary.
Some of Obama’s elite fundraisers also say they have committed to raise money for Clinton but have not yet reached the $100,000 threshold needed to appear on her bundler list. Clinton, basking in rave debate reviews, has regained her narrow lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the crucial state of New Hampshire, a Suffolk University/ Boston
Globe poll of likely Democratic voters released Friday shows.