Wednesday, May 31, 2000
Clinton support has no borders
First lady here for fund-raiser
By Howard Wilkinson
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The fact that Hillary Rodham Clinton came Tuesday all the way to Anderson Township — hardly a Democratic stronghold — to raise money for a Senate campaign in New York seems odd because it is odd.
Even for New York politics.
Rarely are U.S. Senate candidates able to reach so far beyond their own state's borders and pull in millions of campaign dollars the way Mrs. Clinton has.
At the end of March, 55 percent of the $10.4 million Mrs. Clinton's campaign had received from individuals came from outside New York, including $83,350 from Ohio and $5,250 from Kentucky.
Tuesday night in Anderson Township, at a reception with 65 people at the home of Cincinnati lawyer Richard Lawrence, she netted about $75,000 more.
“It obviously shows that she is a national candidate as much as she is a New York candidate,” said Michael Malbin, director of the Campaign Finance Institute at George Washington University.
Mrs. Clinton's bid for the Senate — the first time an American first lady has run for elective office — has some days crowded even the 2000 presidential contest off the news pages.
Mrs. Clinton has criss-crossed the country attending fund-raisers hosted by supporters and big-time Democratic contributors like the one in Anderson Township.
Before dropping out of the race earlier this month, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani did the same on the Republican side, and the new GOP candidate, Rep. Rick Lazio, can also be expected to get a sizeable infusion of cash from outside New York.
But the amount of money pouring into New York from places like Cincinnati is “extraordinary,” Mr. Malbin said.
“Hillary Clinton has a large nationwide base of support,” Mr. Malbin said. “She also has a large national base of opposition. So Giuliani could raise a lot of money elsewhere, and so can Lazio.”
Mrs. Clinton's two-hour, very private visit to the Lawrence home in Anderson Township was the first lady's second visit to Cincinnati to raise money in six months.
In December, she went to the Amberley Village home of Lauren Chesley Cohen, daughter of Cincinnati lawyer Stan Chesley, where about 50 supporters gathered and the Clinton campaign netted about $75,000.
Between them, Mr. Chesley and Mr. Lawrence have raised millions for Democratic causes while the Clintons have been in the White House.
The two have counterparts all over the country; and they have all been raising money for Mrs. Clinton.
Senate races with less media attention than the 2000 New York race tend to draw much less out-of-state money. In Ohio, Sen. Mike DeWine, a Republican who is not a marquee name, has raised about 20 percent of his campaign money from outside the state.
Mr. Giuliani's campaign had raised about $18.7 million from individuals by the time he dropped out, with 45 percent of it coming from out of state, including $53,079 from Ohio.
In this year's Senate race in New York, the vast majority of the money flowing to Mrs. Clinton from Ohio has come from two sources: the December fund-raising event in Amberley Village and from Cincinnati financier Carl Lindner and members of his family, who have contributed $14,000 to Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Lindner is also a major contributor to Republi can candidates and national committees.
Many of those who attended the Chesley and Lawrence fund-raisers were personal friends of the hosts, fellow trial lawyers and Democratic political figures.
Others, though, were people like Henry Morozumi of Madeira, who describes himself as “very non-partisan.”
Mr. Morozumi, who chairs the Cincinnati-Gifu Sister City Association, gave $1,000 to Mrs. Clinton's campaign at the December fund-raiser.
The first lady, Mr. Morozumi said, is honorary chair of both the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., and the Sister City Association, and he has met her because he is involved in both.
“I've been impressed, too, by her speaking out on issues like the environment and children,” Mr. Morozumi said.
That she is a Democrat has nothing to do with it, he said; he also supports Republicans such as Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and Sen. George Voinovich.
“I support the person, not the party,” Mr. Morozumi said.
Dr. O'dell Owens, a fertility specialist and now medical director of United Healthcare, gave $1,000 and attended the Amberley Village event in December.
He said he did it because he admires Mrs. Clinton and agrees with her on issues, particularly her emphasis on health care and child-rearing issues, “which are very important to me.”
“I really like the way she handled herself through that crisis,” said Dr. Owens, referring to the Monica Lewinsky scandal and President Clinton's impeachment. “We can all learn something about dealing with adversity through her example.
“When you support someone and believe they would make a good United States senator,” Dr. Owens said, “I don't find it odd at all that people from outside New York would want to help.”
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