Apparently everyone wears a wire at fundraisers
These days it seems that everyone is wearing a wire to political fundraisers. Barack Obama got stung last week through a recording of some of his remarks at a San Francisco event. This week it’s Senator Clinton’s turn. The Huffington Post has a clandestine recording. The WaPo provides some background. Here are Senator Clinton’s thoughts, as recorded by some unknown party:
“We have been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. MoveOn didn’t even want us to go into Afghanistan. I mean, that’s what we’re dealing with. And you know they turn out in great numbers. And they are very driven by their view of our positions, and it’s primarily national security and foreign policy that drives them. I don’t agree with them. They know I don’t agree with them. So they flood into these caucuses and dominate them and really intimidate people who actually show up to support me.”
Hugh Hewitt thinks that Senator Clinton’s “admission that the activists of the Democrats are far to the left of American political opinion” is highly significant. We’ll see about that. One aspect of this story that does appear to have significant implications for the future is that clandestine recording or transmitting via cellphone of off-the-record meetings seems to be becoming widespread. Perhaps future fundraisers will have to be held in the Cone of Silence.