High-rolling Dem donors of Maryland who were hoping to bend the ear of could-be presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton tonight will have to settle for Bubba. According to the Baltimore Sun, the Clintons made a last-second decision to have former president Bill Clinton headline a fundraiser for Maryland gubernatorial candidate Anthony G. Brown in place of his wife. Hillary chalked up the cancellation to the old “spending more time with her family.” This time, however, she really means it. Really.
Apparently, HRC is taking a liking to her non-official duties as grandmother, and decided to stay in New York with 5-day-old granddaughter Charlotte and new mother, Chelsea. With Hillary in bonding mode, Bill Clinton will just have to make one more stop on the way home from headlining a North Carolina fundraiser for U.S. Senator Kay Hagan.
The high-dollar fundraiser, which will be held at the “wooded, 2.8-acre private home” of some unnamed rich guy in the D.C. suburb of Potomac, is expected to be one of the Brown campaign’s biggest moneymakers ahead of the Nov. 4 election. The sitting lieutenant governor is undoubtedly looking to choke off the state’s few remaining airwaves with negative ads as he looks to defeat Republican candidate Larry Hogan
In May, Slick Willie helped Brown raise more than $1 million at a separate Potomac event, The Washington Post reported at the time. In remarks at the event, Clinton said he was part of Brown’s “brigade,” and spoke of his “enormous affection” for Brown. This time, he’s just a few days removed from becoming a grandpa for the first time, so there’s no telling how warm-fuzzy things will get.
Both sides better savor the moment. The Clintons are longtime friends of Brown’s boss, Gov. Martin O’Malley. But the relationship could get awkward if Hillary Clinton and O’Malley both decide to run for president next year.
