HILLARY'S PROBLEM – AT 7:53 A.M. ET:  Related to the post just below, Hillary Clinton is facing a challenge from the left, not only politically but financially.  From The Politico: 

Hillary Clinton is facing the beginnings of a backlash from rich liberals unhappy with her positions on litmus test issues and her team’s efforts to lock up the Democratic presidential nomination before the contest starts.

Elizabeth Warren says she’s not running, but donors are pledging big money to get her to reconsider. Joe Biden, Martin O’Malley and Jim Webb have found polite and occasionally receptive audiences among potential sugar daddies. Even Bernie Sanders has support from some wealthy donors.

Clinton is seen by some liberals as too hawkish, too close to Wall Street and insufficiently aggressive on fighting climate change, income inequality and the role of money in politics. Those are animating causes for many rich Democrats, and some are eager for a candidate or candidates to challenge Clinton on those issues, if only to force her to the left.

“I have talked to large donors who are not happy with what Hillary represents,” said Guy Saperstein, a San Francisco lawyer and part owner of the Oakland A’s. “But they’re not going to stick their heads up above the ramparts right now and get shot at.”

Saperstein provided seed funding to a super PAC launched this summer to try to draft Warren into the presidential race and pledged $1 million if the Massachusetts senator decides to run. The super PAC is hiring staffers in key primary states and recently enlisted a fundraising firm to solicit donors.

COMMENT:  The hypocrisy flows.   Here are rich donors who use their money grandly in politics, and they express concern about the influence of money in politics.  Do they know what they sound like?

And Hillary is too hawkish?  She's more hawkish than Obama, but that's not a high standard.  Snow White is more hawkish than Obama.  Do these wealthy donors have any idea what's happening in the world, or are they so obsessed with impressing the smart set with their multiculturalism and "deep personal commitment" to some vague notion of "peace"?

October 7, 2014