Newsroom

Former president holds fundraisers in Austin

Wednesday, September 12, 2007
by Elise Hu
KVUE

Senator Hillary Clinton, D-New York, may be the one running for president, but the Clinton who's already held the office can still draw big crowds."There's a little nostalgic feeling about how things were pretty darn good under Bill Clinton," said Gary Mauro, Hillary Clinton's Texas campaign chair.The former president is appearing at the Austin Hilton Thursday night to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for his wife. Mauro says the money is a must."Raising money so that we can get our message out is the first hurdle of success," Mauro said. "If you can't raise the money, nobody is going to hear who you are."He says Mr. and Mrs. Clinton split up across the country, making separate appearances because of tight schedules and because it allows the two of them to hit more places on the map."It's very normal in a presidential race for the spouse to campaign vigorously and keep a full schedule," Mauro said. "What is unusual about this is that the spouse is a former president of the United States."Just a few blocks away at Austin's Zilker Park, State Senator Kirk Watson, D-Austin, is hosting a fundraiser of his own at the same time."I've heard from people who will be at both events. Go to his and then run over to ours, after they've said hello to the president," said Watson.Double booking fundraisers at this time of the year is not surprising. In this week alone, Elizabeth Edwards, Bill Richardson and now, Bill Clinton have each come through to raise money."It's just part of the time of the year, after Labor Day you see things heat up," Watson said.President Clinton is also signing copies of his new book "Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World" on Friday at Book People.