Clinton readies for Hamptons fundraising blitz
By Annie Karni
08/08/16 04:19 PM EDT
Hillary Clinton is planning to forgo her annual Hamptons vacation and accompanying luxury beach rental this summer – embarking instead on a condensed three-day fundraising blitz in the moneyed East End in late August.
The Democratic nominee, whose campaign is currently focused on recruiting Republicans disgusted with Donald Trump into the fold, is packing in up to nine big-dollar events during a Hamptons fundraising sprint beginning Aug. 28 and ending Aug. 30, according to three sources familiar with the campaign’s fundraising strategy.
Singer Jimmy Buffett, a Montauk resident, is expected to host a Clinton fundraiser at his home, the sources said.
And Loews CEO Jonathan Tisch and Rudin Management bigwig Bill Rudin have sent out invitations to a $33,400-a-head dinner they are co-hosting.
Clinton is also planning to attend fundraising dinners in Sagaponack, Quogue and East Hampton, hosted by donors like hedge fund manager and art collector Adam Sender; philanthropist Barbara Lee Diamonstein-Spielvogel and Carl Spielvogel, former U.S. ambassador to the Slovak Republic; and Infor CEO Charles Phillips and longtime Clinton donor Alan Patricof.
The campaign is also planning a family garden party where two adults and their children can take photos with Clinton for $10,000 a pop, as well as a cheaper Southampton beach party with ticket prices starting at $2,700.
The maximum general election donation to Clinton's campaign is $2,700. The bigger-dollar events raise money for the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that includes the Democratic National Committee and 32 state party committees.
“It's shorter than usual, and it seems to be action packed,” Patricof said of Clinton’s run at the Hamptons this year. “There are a lot of enthusiastic supporters.”
The cash push comes as the campaign – which is leading Trump in every nationwide and battleground public poll – is trying to convince donors there is still a tough fight ahead. On Monday, the campaign sent out a concerned fundraising plea highlighting that Trump and the Republicans had raised $82 million in July.
Clinton's ritzy Hamptons vacation digs in the past have been a target for Republican attacks. Last year, she reportedly rented a $50,000-a-week beachfront mansion, while touting her middle-class upbringing to Iowa voters earning less than the cost of her one-week rental as their annual salaries.
But even during the primary, Clinton's Hamptons time was cut short. With Vice President Joe Biden weighing his own competing presidential bid last August, Clinton hustled from the dunes of Long Island to the plains of Iowa to campaign with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack by her side – a message aimed at Uncle Joe that Obama's cabinet was standing behind her.
A year later, Biden is set to hit the campaign trail with Clinton on Aug. 15 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The Hamptons fundraising schedule, sources said, is still in flux. A campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/hillary-clinton-fundraising-hamptons-226800#ixzz4GpWmv7c8
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