Intense bid to court Clinton’s fundraisers

Published 5:00 am Thursday, June 12, 2008

With Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign manager scheduled to meet today with top fundraisers for Sen. Hillary Clinton in New York, there is resistance from at least some in her once-vaunted network to supporting Obama.

David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager, is planning to meet today in New York and Friday in New Jersey with a large group of Clinton fundraisers.

Seeking to unite the Democratic Party and the candidates’ donor bases, campaign officials are also in the midst of arranging a joint meeting with the candidates to introduce Obama to Clinton’s biggest money collectors sometime over the next two weeks.

The Clinton campaign’s senior fundraising officials have been holding conference calls with fundraisers by region over the last few days — some two dozen in all are planned — to urge them to plunge in on behalf of Obama for his general election showdown with Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee. But several people involved in the calls said it was obvious from the tenor of them that emotions remained raw for many.

“The Obama campaign has a lot to show me before I will consider being there for them,” said Susie Tompkins Buell, co-founder of the clothing company Esprit and a friend of Clinton. “Hillary has asked us to do all we can for Barack,” she said. “I listen to that and respect that, but personally I need to evaluate.”

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