Last night former President Bill Clinton held a fundraiser in NYC for his good buddy Terry McAuliffe who for years sold access to Clinton. Remember sleepovers/fundraisers in the Lincoln bedroom? Fundraisers at Buddhist temples?
Well, Clinton is returning the favor. As DNC Chairman McAuliffe was a prodigious fundraiser. In fact McAuliffe openly bragged about selling access to the President “Thousands Of Times”.
Some gems from Terry:
McAuliffe: “‘I’m A Salesman Who Sells Something. And The Product Happens To Be The President.’” (Ed Vulliamy, “Alligator Wrestling: $15,000 Your Lunch With Bill: $50,000,” The Observer, 8/24/97)
McAuliffe: “‘Did I Ever Ring Anyone And Say That For $ 50,000 You Can Have Lunch With The President? Or, For Whatever, You Can Fly On Air Force One? Yes, I Did - Thousands Of Times! And So What?’” “‘I’m a salesman who sells something. And the product happens to be the President. Did I ever ring anyone and say that for $ 50,000 you can have lunch with the President? Or, for whatever, you can fly on Air Force One? Yes, I did - thousands of times! And so what?’” (Ed Vulliamy, “Alligator Wrestling: $15,000 Your Lunch With Bill: $50,000,” The Observer, 8/24/97)
“When It Comes To Political Money, This Is A Period When Rome Is Burning And McAuliffe Is The Fiddler,” Says Fred Wertheimer Of Democracy 21, A Nonprofit Group Dedicated To Tracking The Influence Of Money On Politics. (Michael Weisskopf, “The Kingmaker,” Time, 5/30/00)
Wertheimer: “Terry McAuliffe Is A Classic Example Of What’s Wrong With This Political System…He Thinks He’s Doing Something Great For Democracy. What He Is Is A Middleman Buying And Selling Influence Over Government Policies.” (Elizabeth Shogren, “Democratic Fund-Raising King Has 26 Million Reasons to Gloat,” Los Angeles Times, 5/23/00)
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