The National Journal's "Hotline" publication lead story today is "The $6 Million Woman." What they're referring to is the fact that Hillary Clinton raised more than $6 million in the second quarter of 2005, an all-time record for a Democratic candidate, and second in history for ANY American political candidate (according to the Hotline, John Thune raised $6 million in the third quarter of 2004, during the height of his run against former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle). Here's the Hotline's commentary on Hillary Clinton's blockbuster second quarter (April-June):
What makes Clinton's $6M 2ndQ take so amazing is that it took place in an off-year quarter, not during the heat of a campaign (see Thune). Let's do some math. If Clinton maintains just this current pace of raising $6M every quarter, while banking $4M of that $6M, she'll have approx. $30M leftover AFTER her '06 SEN race (assuming she actually spends $18M on her re-election effort). Consider that $30M her WH '08 floor. How likely is it she'll have an $8M, $10M or $15M quarter before her re-election campaign is over? We've warned other WH '08 Dems that Clinton is going to set a fundraising pace that's never been seen. The idea of Clinton STARTING Jan. 2007 with $50M in the bank is looking more likely by the day.
Let's repeat that: Hillary Clinton could head into 2007 with $50 million in the bank. Holy heck, Batman, that's a lot of money, even in Gotham City. Seriously, if this $50 million really turns out to be the case, I frankly don't see how any other Democrat stand a snowball's chance of competing with Hillary Clinton. In comparison, Howard Dean -- with his innovative small donor strategy that is practically legendary-- raised a TOTAL of $53 million during the entire 2004 election cycle. Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards raised $34 million, and my man Gen. Wesley Clark collected $30 million. John Kerry himself raised $326 million, but he was the Democratic nominee after all and had the entire party apparatus behind him. Here, we're talking about Hillary Clinton very possibly STARTING OFF 2007, let alone the election year of 2008, with $50 million cold cash in her checking account. Simply breathtaking.
I'll tell you, there are three people who should never, EVER be underestimated in American politics: George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton. The rest may be great people, but in terms of doing what it takes to win, they are simply playing in another league.