The New Yorker has a piece, Bill vs. Barack, essentially reporting that Bill hates Obama, is enraged by Obama’s success.
Why? BloombergNews has the answer:
It’s Barack Obama’s priceless database (estimated value at over $200 million) that will make him a party power broker way into the future…
“that may outlast the current campaign.” said, Tad Devine, an independent media consultant.
Wow. Always it’s the money, isn’t it?
And the Clintons have displayed their crass pursuit of wealth. Now they’ll have to yield.
First, let’s read The New Yorker’s take
The New Yorker: Bill vs. Barack
Within the campaign, Clinton’s enthusiasm for rustling votes in these remote corners was a source of amusement.
When I asked what he was doing on Election Day, a Clinton campaign adviser said, “I think he’s leading a caravan of Wal-Mart greeters to the polls.”
On the stump, the former President dispensed idiosyncratic political analysis. “One of the reasons that she won Ohio that nobody wrote about,” he said, without explanation, “is that Ohio has a plant that produces the largest number of solar reflectors in America.” He offered commentary about his wife’s earlier limitations as a candidate: “I think Hillary’s become a much better speaker.” But, most of all, Bill Clinton talked about Bill Clinton:
“””The headquarters of my foundation is in Harlem. . . . My Presidential library and school of public service are in Arkansas. . . . I try to save this generation of children from the epidemic of childhood obesity. . . . I am working on rebuilding the Katrina area in New Orleans. . . . I have major global-warming projects in cities all around America. . . . Most of the time I am out in America on the streets. . . . I once gave a speech to a million people in Ghana.”””
When Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign was launched, in January, 2007, her supporters feared that Bill would overshadow her, as he had when they both spoke at the funeral of Coretta Scott King, a year earlier. Now the constant fear is that he will embarrass her.
When he makes news, it is rarely a good day for his spouse. Whether he was publicly comparing Barack Obama’s primary victory in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson’s campaigns in the eighties or privately, and apoplectically, complaining that Bill Richardson broke his word by endorsing Obama, every story has seemed to reinforce an image of Clinton as a sort of ill-tempered coot driven a little mad by Obama’s success. “I think this campaign has enraged him,” the adviser told me.
But, as Clinton campaigned in Pennsylvania, he was rarely the cartoon politician portrayed in the press. He still connects better with voters than his wife or Obama. “Hillary is in this race today because of people like you,” he told one white working-class audience. “She’s in it for you and she’s in it because of you. People like you have voted for her in every single state in the country.” People like you. The phrase hung in the air and the room quieted. Clinton didn’t say what the people who voted for Obama were like, but the suggestion was that they were somehow different.
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That is what offended Bill Clinton.
“Hillary’s opponent, in his entire campaign, every two or three weeks has said for months and months and months, beginning in Nevada, that really there wasn’t much difference in how America did when I was President and how America’s done under President Bush,” he said in Lock Haven. “Now, if you believe that, you should probably vote for him, but you get a very bad grade in history.”
In the closing days of the campaign, Obama gave at least three speeches criticizing the former President, who, ever vigilant of his legacy, defended himself at every stop. Few paid attention; Barack and Bill were like two boxers trying to have a fight but both getting pelted by a mysterious third force–the saturation gaffe coverage.
Bill Clinton is more than peeved. He sees – the Clinton machine – their status ebbing away, their legacy being repudiated. A third term would have vanquished the Monica years. They left office with that stain.
Obama is a threat to their restoration project…and their future status. Win or loose Obama will be in demand.
BloombergNews: Obama’s `Gigantic’ Database May Make Him Party’s Power Broker
April 28 (Bloomberg) — Barack Obama’s supporters are giving him more than just record amounts of cash. They also are providing personal information that may make his donor list the most powerful tool in U.S. politics.
Even if the Democratic presidential candidate doesn’t succeed in his White House bid, this data will make Obama a power broker in the party for years to come. For the interest groups or Democratic candidates he chooses to sell it to, it would provide a gold mine of information and access to potential donors.
Almost 2 million people have entered personal information on Obama pages on social-networking Web sites such as Facebook, MySpace and his campaign’s mybarackobama.com, offering home addresses, phone numbers, their views on specific issues and the names of friends. The data have allowed Obama, 46, to raise more than $200 million, fill sports arenas with supporters across the nation and motivate millions more with custom-tailored messages.
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`It’s gigantic,” said Laura Quinn, chief executive officer of Catalist, a company that maintains a database of 280 million Americans. The list is as “transformational” as the advent of political advertising, she said.
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McIntyre, a Republican and former chief national spokesman for the National Rifle Association, said the data entered by 800,000 names on mybarakobama.com may be worth as much as $200 million.
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It’s the kind of detailed information that Republican operatives such as Karl Rove, who directed President George W. Bush’s campaigns, excelled at gathering through expensive microtargeting techniques that combine data from several sources.
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Obama’s success stems from a decision early in his campaign to embrace the concept of social networking, allowing him to leap ahead of his Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, or the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona. For example, Obama now has 790,000 Facebook “friends,” compared with 150,000 for Clinton, 60, and 117,000 for McCain, 71.
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Even as Obama’s interactive databases prove to be efficient ways to energize volunteers, their ability to raise large amounts of money may outlast the current campaign, said Tad Devine, an independent media consultant.
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This ability to produce results ensures Obama will play a prominent role in the future.
“Win or lose, it’s his list,” McIntyre said.
I’ve been puzzled by Bill’s undercurrent of rage… had he displayed some sincerity in advancing the interest of AA community, (being the “first balck president”) Bill would be cheering on Obama, even if his wife is the rival. Quite the opposite, Bill has been trashing Obama at every stump.
You know, it’s not that Bill and Hillary are so much bigots…at least I hope not…but I’m compelled to conclude it’s the money, it’s the power that comes with it.
The Clinton’s been out-campaigned, out-funded and now Obama has built a valuable asset, added to his oratory…that means, in the future, paid speeches. Now there’s added competition for Bill, coming only eight years, too early in the game.
Kinda leaves Bill envious. He no longer owns the Democratic Party, has lost it to this upstart who wouldn’t wait his turn.
Oh, how it hurts.
I disagree with that surgeon who offered that Bill’s personality change is from his by-pass surgery.
No, it’s the new competition for power and money that has Bill rattled with envy.
