According to the Washington Post’s Matea Gold, Team Clinton wants to raise a billion dollars for the campaign. And if Jeb raises more, they’re not really worried about that.
Without a strong primary challenger, Clinton will have the luxury of amassing huge sums of money this year while Republicans duke it out in a costly primary fight.
This comes at a time when support for Hillary among Democrats has softened a bit, although it is still remarkably strong by historic standards.
Support for Clinton’s candidacy has dropped about 15 percentage points since mid-February among Democrats, with as few as 45 percent saying they would support her in the last week, according to a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll. Support from Democrats likely to vote in the party nominating contests has dropped only slightly less, to a low in the mid-50s over the same period.
Even Democrats who said they were not personally swayed one way or another by the email flap said that Clinton could fare worse because of it, if and when she launches her presidential campaign, a separate Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
The polling showed that nearly half of Democratic respondents – 46 percent – agreed there should be an independent review of all of Clinton’s emails to ensure she turned over everything that is work-related.
The email flap, by itself, is probably only a ripple. The bigger issue is going to be a lack of desire by progressive organizers to engage in an eighteen-month slog of defending the Clintons against attacks, both legitimate and delusional.
I know I have no energy to lift even a pinkie-finger to defend the Clintons. And I know I am not alone.
By contrast, I have spent ten solid years fighting the Republicans every single day, including weekends. My energy for defending Democratic candidates against them has never flagged.
It may be true that there will be no strong primary challengers for Hillary, but I find that prospect deeply enervating.
On the other hand, with a billion dollars, I’m sure she can buy plenty of defenders.