Barack Obama’s campaign is preparing to recruit many of Hillary Clinton’s top fundraisers — a tactic that could bring him a huge influx of money for the general election.
Several of Obama’s finance officials say they may invite Hillary’s top fundraisers to join Obama’s national finance committee at a meeting in Chicago on June 19.
Contact between the two camps has so far been limited to informal talks among fundraisers in several cities, according to the New York Times. But top fundraisers from both sides say they have always expected to join forces behind the Democratic nominee.
“Mr. Obama has already raised three times as much money as Mr. McCain,” the Times reported. “And the combination of his Internet appeals and the Clinton donors could lift his fundraising total to an eye-popping $400 million to $500 million, practically ensuring that the Democrats could outspend the Republicans in the Nov. 4 election and mount larger advertising and get-out-the-vote drives than ever before.”
More than 1.5 million people have contributed to Obama’s primary campaign, and he has raised $121 million, or nearly half of his $256 million total, from donors giving amounts of $200 or less.
Some Obama fundraisers have already brought in most of the people they could for the maximum individual contribution of $2,300 for the primaries. But these donors could sill give an additional $2,300 for the general election.
On the other hand, Clinton fundraisers who join the Obama camp could still pursue the full $4,600 for him from Hillary’s backers.
But the Times observes that “enlisting the Clinton donor network could blur Mr. Obama’s image as a different kind of politician — and alienate some of his core supporters — if he began taking large sums from corporate executives in industries like financial services and energy that he criticized on the campaign trail.”
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