The Boston Globe is reporting that Democrats are growing increasingly uncomfortable with Hillary Clinton’s paid speeches. She’s speaking to the American Camp Association on Thursday in Atlantic City. That organization is spending a lot of its budget to have Clinton speak:
It’s a not-for-profit organization that may be spending up to 10 percent of its $2 million budget to land Clinton for the Thursday speech in Atlantic City, if the former first lady is charging her usual fee of $200,000. The camp confirmed she would be paid for the appearance, but didn’t disclose the size of the fee. Clinton’s office declined to comment.
And that makes some Democrats pretty uncomfortable:
“I would have advised her to stop doing paid speeches a while ago,” said Joe Trippi, a Democratic consultant who managed Howard Dean’s 2004 White House bid. “In a presidential campaign giving your opponents ammunition is something I wouldn’t recommend.”
…
The unease from Democrats goes beyond the beltway to the frontline activists she’ll need to rely on to generate enthusiasm for her candidacy.
“There’s enough flak floating around, why give more credence for the flak?” asked Lou D’Allesandro, a New Hampshire state senator who went door-to-door with Clinton in the Granite state during her 2008 contest.