In a slap at President Barack Obama, “former President Bill Clinton will headline a fundraiser for a New York congresswoman challenging White House-backed Sen. Kristen Gillibrand in the state’s Democratic primary,” the AP reports. The “slap” comment is a tad bit salacious on the AP’s part, but I digress.
Clinton has not endorsed in the race, but his efforts to help Rep. Carolyn Maloney could be seen as a snub to Gillibrand and the Obama White House. Matt McKenna, a spokesman for Clinton, said he will be attending a July 20 fundraiser in New York.
The White House has played an active role in clearing the field for Gillibrand, who was appointed earlier this year to fill the seat vacated when Obama tapped Hillary Rodham Clinton to be his secretary of state. Obama asked Rep. Steve Israel not to challenge Gillibrand, a request he honored. Just days ago, Vice President Joe Biden called Maloney to discuss the race, a clear sign that the White House didn’t want a primary fight next year.
For more context, Josh Kraushaar notes that this fundraiser “had been in the works for months, well before Maloney announced she would be running against Gillibrand.”
The former president has not endorsed in the race for his wife’s former Senate seat and is not planning to issue an endorsement, according to his spokesman.
Clinton held a fundraiser for Gillibrand in March soon after she was appointed to the Senate by Gov. David Paterson (D-N.Y).
The fundraiser is for Maloney’s House fund but in practical terms, the fundraiser has the same effect as raising money for a Senate campaign. Maloney is allowed to transfer unlimited sums from her House campaign account to any future Senate account, according to FEC law.
It’s part of a series of events geared toward thanking then-supporters of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
“We agreed to do this event some time ago, as a way of saying thank you for the congresswoman’s hard work on behalf of then-Sen. Clinton in the presidential campaign,” said McKenna.
