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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (2630)	8/30/2007 4:58:21 PM
From: ChinuSFO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

Analysis: the first jolt to the Clinton campaign Question marks over a major donor to Hillary Clinton's campaign are the first challenge to her smooth progress so far Tim Reid The revelation that one of Hillary Clinton's major donors is wanted for fraud is the first time her hitherto relentlessly disciplined campaign has been thrown on the defensive. So far, it is no more than a temporary embarrassment for Mrs Clinton. There is no suggestion she had any personal knowledge of Norman Hsu's tainted background. But Mrs Clinton, more than any other candidate — because of the scandal-plagued White House years of her husband - has sought to project an image of financial and moral integrity. For that reason, anything remotely smelling of scandal — this episode included — revives in people's minds the sleaze that beset her husband's presidency. The potential for the words "Clinton" and "scandal" to once again be linked is perhaps the greatest fear among her campaign aides. Any financial problems will also be used by her enemies to remind voters of a huge fundraising scandal that beset Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1996, when it emerged that Asian businessmen with links to China were funnelling money to Democrats to try and influence elections. Over 20 people were eventually convicted for fraud or for channelling Asian funds into the US elections, several of whom were longtime Clinton-Gore friends and political appointees. Mr Hsu was a major "bundler" for Mrs Clinton, a key fundraiser who finds donors and then packages their cheques together. He is a member of Mrs Clinton's "HillRaiser" team, individuals who have pledged to raise more than $100,000 for her campaign. Teams of investigators from rival campaigns — both Democratic and Republican — will be combing through Mrs Clinton's fundraising disclosure forms. If Mr Hsu is the only problem she has, the likelihood is that it will prove a temporary setback. If a pattern of compromised donors emerges, it could become a potentially disastrous development. Tainted donors are not new. Earlier this month Mitt Romney, a leading Republican presidential candidate, was forced to return contributions from a fundraiser who was charged with defrauding companies of $32 million. After months of Republican scandals, both sexual and financial — dozens of candidates returned money from the convicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff last year — the Hsu episode at least gives Republicans something to crow about. Mr Hsu has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Democratic candidates, including John Kerry, Mr Bush's 2004 presidential challenger. He has even given $5,000 to Barack Obama, Mrs Clinton's main rival for the Democratic nomination. They are now all rushing to divest themselves of his contributions. timesonline.co.uk