Hillary Clinton may be Secretary of State but she does have to deal with the debt remaining from her 2008 presidential campaign. Which is why strategist James Carville sent an e-mail to Clinton supporters, telling them that if they contribute, they could be entered in contest to win one of three prizes: "Spend a day with President Clinton" in NYC, "attend the American Idol season finale," and a weekend in D.C. talking politics with Carville and Paul Begala. OMG!! You can read the whole e-mail here; donations can be as small as $5 (Clinton's debt is about $6 million). A veteran Republican campaign finance lawyer told the Wall Street Journal, “It’s difficult to pay off $6 million when a losing candidate has already exhausted his or her base contributors. I think the only thing more difficult than raising money to pay a pollster is raising money to pay lawyers.” more ›

Former President Bill Clinton laid out his wife's chances for voters during a speech - and didn't sound terribly confident about them. He told them, "If she wins Texas and Ohio, I think she will be the nominee. If you don't, then I don't think she can. It's all on you." And the Post quickly dug up the Davy Crockett hat for its Photoshop job. more ›

Once upon a time, former President Bill Clinton only meant good things for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. But now, his poorly received remarks in the past few weeks (a "fairy tale" here, a Jesse Jackson reference there), Hillary Clinton is left claiming her husband is sleep deprived and just human: "Well, I think it's human nature. I think that the spouses of all three of us have, you know, been passionate and vigorous defenders of each of us and, you know, maybe got a little carried away." more ›

With the South Carolina's Democratic primary on this coming Saturday, the three leading Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards gathered together at a Martin Luther King Day Jr. debate in Columbia, S.C. When Clinton addressed the crowd, she said, "We have come so far together. Barack Obama, an extraordinary, young African-American man with so much to contribute. John Edwards, a son of the South — in fact, a son of South Carolina. And a woman — all of us running for president of the United States of America!” more ›

In the vicious waters of the 2008 presidential campaign, everything is fair game. President Bill Clinton learned that (again!) after a remark he made has drawn the ire of black leaders. So Clinton called into the Reverend Al Sharpton's radio show to explain why used the term "fairy tale" while criticizing Barack Obama. more ›

That just happened! Senator Barack Obama won the Democratic Iowa Caucus with at least 37% of the vote (projections are changing). Former Senator John Edwards got 30% of the vote while Senator Hillary Clinton got 29%. The media is playing this as a huge failure for the Senator from New York, given how powerful the Clinton machine has seemed. Also stunning: There were 82% more Democratic voters in this year's caucus compared with 2004, which pundits suggest means Iowa, which President Bush won in 2004, is certainly in play for the Democrats. more ›

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Rudy Giuliani replaced his lead fundraiser. Anne Dunsmore joined the Giuliani campaign in May, and her credentials as the California finance director during President Bush's 2000 and 2004 elections prompted Giuliani to create a special position for her - deputy campaign manager for finance. Dunsmore was leading the drive to raise more than $100 million; she told the Washington Post's The Fix last May, "When you have $100 million situation hitting or missing by 10 percent is giant...it's a couple of states." Her replacement is another former Bush fundraiser, James H. Lee. more ›

Former President Bill Clinton may love to eat foods like osso bucco, but he's not so happy with the restaurant Osso Buco. Clinton's lawyer sent owner Nino Selimaj a letter demanding that a photograph of Selimaj and Chelsea Clinton, which had been featured in the University Place location's window, be taken down. more ›

The NY Sun details Senator Hillary Clinton's fundraising agenda in the NY area. Most notably, she and former President Bill Clinton will be on a "48-hour, six fund-raiser blitz" in the Hamptons that includes events at billionaire Ron Perelman's East Hampton home and Entenmann's heir Robert Entenmann's North Fork vineyard. From the Sun:

The Hamptons trip highlights just how crucial New York's wealthy donors are to Mrs. Clinton, and to all of the 2008 presidential candidates. Not only do they write large checks, but they serve as rainmakers who can secure donations from their wealthy network of friends. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg has been an independent all of a couple days, but there is tons of ink being devoted to his chances. The most interesting story is from the NY Sun, which offers various scenarios where Bloomberg could win the 2008 presidential election (not that he wants to run for president). For instance, he'd need the Northeast, West Coast, Florida, and Heartland states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, etc. And if "extreme" candidates run in the parties, like Romney or Thompson on the Republican ticket and Obama or Edwards for the Democrats, Bloomberg could be a player. more ›

The New York Times has a story today on the required unveiling of NY Sen. Hillary Clinton's investments, which were previously held in a blind trust jointly owned with her husband and former President Bill Clinton, but needed to be disclosed as Sen. Clinton is now running for President herself. The trust was liquidated in April after the Clintons learned that their holdings included potentially politically damaging investments in military contractors, oil, pharmaceutical companies, and Wal-Mart. That the latter three could be considered politically damaging is interesting and says something about America's political landscape, because we imagine that 95% of all Americans either consume oil, ingest pharmaceuticals, or shop at Wal-Mart in any given week of the year. more ›

Senator Hillary Clinton brought out a big gun in her fund-raising arsenal last night: President Bill Clinton, who introduced her last night, noting that they had met 36 years ago at Yale Law School. He said, "You will never find anybody who will do a better job of it than she will." It was their first major fund-raiser together, and tomorrow they'll be in DC for another event. About on million dollars was raised, with tickets ranging in price from $1,000 to $4,600 per person. more ›

Ahmet Ertegun, the man who founded Atlantic Records, died yesterday at the age of 83. Ertegun, along with a partner, Herb Abramson, founded Atlantic Records in 1947. They started up in an office in a hotel on West 56th Street in Manhattan. The initial investment of $10,000 was borrowed from his family dentist. 48 years later, in 1995, at the Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Dinner, it was announced that the museum's main exhibition hall would be named after Ertegun. more ›

A recently disbarred lawyer and his wife were shot while driving on Route 100 Saturday night. Police say Carlos and Peggy Perez-Olivo's SUV was cut off and forced off the road by another car. Carlos Perez-Olivo tried to fend off a man carrying a gun, but the gunman shot his wife in the head. Perez-Olivo was wounded as well, but was able to drive his wife to the hospital. Police are not sure if the shooting was random or targeted. more ›

An envelope filled with a white powder was delivered to former President Bill Clinton's West 125th Street office, causing the two floors of the building to be shut down yesterday afternoon. Most of the building was evacuated, but eleven people were quaratined as the police, fire department, FBI, Secret Service and Homeland Secuirty descended to the scene. A source told the Daily News, "An aide opened the envelope, and she went ballistic," when white powder fell from the manila envelope. It turns out the white powder was non-toxic and harmless, but the envelope did have a "rambling diatribe" inside. more ›

With Election Day in a little more than two weeks, candidates are pushing into the home stretch by rallying their supporters and looking for undecided voters. The NY Times made some more big endorsements. The Gray Lady threw support behind Eliot Spitzer for Governor and Andrew Cuomo for Attorney General. The Spitzer endorsement was enthusiastic and hopeful, while the Cuomo one...well, here's a bit from it which contrasts Cuomo with the embattled Republican Jeannine Pirro:

The race to succeed Eliot Spitzer as New York’s attorney general has come down to a riveting if uninspiring brawl between two flawed candidates, the Republican Jeanine Pirro and her Democratic opponent, Andrew Cuomo. Both candidates have strengths. Their records also contain glaring weaknesses, making either seem an uncomfortable fit for the state’s top law enforcement job... more ›

To no one's surprise, Senator Hillary Clinton won the NY State Democratic nomination for this fall's Senate race. Which means she got to use her acceptance speech as a possible preview into a run for the presidency someday. The NY Times said that President Bill Clinton kept talking and talking (about Hillary), "until finally, perhaps realizing he was the only politician left in the room, he turned to go." That Bubba - what an operator! more ›

While Hillary Clinton talks about being New York's senator for another term, everyone knows she's looking at presidential run in 2008 - you don't call the House of Representatives a "plantation" without an agenda. Now, it seems to be confirmed with a look at her "re-election campaign" finances - the NY Times reports that she's raised more money than any of the Democratic presidential wannabes with a cool $17.1 million. And sometimes the fundraisers include special guest star, former President Bill Clinton, who makes checkbooks pop open when he walks in a room. Which means she's on pace to easily squash a challenger in this year's Senator race (which is, sadly, a joke as it's eight months from election and there still isn't a Republican candidate) and to be a dominant force in 2008. more ›

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Fernando Ferrer got the help of former President Bill Clinton with some campaigning in the Bronx, but the event did not go off without a hitch. Clinton's team "dismantled" sound equipment, seemingly to the dismay of some "low level" Ferrer supporters, and the NY Times takes the opportunity to see that the Clinton helping Ferrer in a limited capactiy, sort of going through the motions while not pulling out all the stops. Why? Because associating themselves with a losing candidate might be embarrassing for Hillary, and Bloomberg is actually liked by many Democrats. While Ferrer benefits from whatever the Clintons do for him (Hillary is hosting a fundraiser for him tonight), Gothamist wonders if the Ferrer campaign can handle full-on Clinton, as, per the NY Times article, the Clinton's starpower "overshadowed him at times, and their smoothness has left him looking like a B-list candidate." But the article does assert that the Clintons like Ferrer personally - maybe he'll get an appointment if Hillary gets elected to higher office! more ›

More about the heart programs at NY Presbyterian and the Mayo Clinic on heart bypass surgery.
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The NY Times had special Democratic Convention section, in addition to their Campaign 2004 site. And here's the Washington Post's extensive convention site. Talking Points Memo's Joshua Micah Marshall writes how MSNBC's convention coverage site (here) has "absorbed the blogging model to something like a mind-bending degree." It's true - MSNBC has a blog, Hardblogger, (heh!) and Gothamist was shocked Chris Matthews' posts weren't in all caps or bold....an assistant must have posted 'em. more ›

My Life is #1 on Amazon. More on William J. Clinton Jr. at his official site, where you can see video of his remarks at the Chicago Book Expo. And Clinton was on 60 Minutes last night and is on the cover of Time magazine. more ›