Valuating Clinton's Base

How much is one of the largest political bases in the country worth? According to The Wall Street Journal, it's worth $4.5 million: that's how much Hillary Clinton's campaign (which still exists) made in the first three months of 2009 by selling or renting out its supporters list.

With her presidential campaign no longer in debt, the Journal reports, Clinton's Senate campaign will "hold onto her presidential mailing list for possible use in the future." The Journal's reporters see this as an effort to "retain a part of her political operation" while Clinton serves as secretary of state.


None of this is shocking. Why wouldn't Clinton try to make money off her list? This is something people with lists do. But it's fun to think about the future of Clinton's political career. It's liberating, in fact, given that it has almost nothing to do with the problems facing our country at present.

Should Clinton run for president again--that's the suggestion here, when we talk about her retaining a political operation--she would presumably get the help of President Obama's political operation, which is now in possession of the Democratic National Committee. Then again, there's a hardcore attitude held by some Clinton backers, and retaining the ability to communicate with them would be valuable...I'm going out on a limb to predict Clinton defeats a plucky Jim Webb and a resurrected Howard Dean, who has found a way to conduct grassrots fundraising via GPS and Skype and rallied his way into contention, for the Democratic nomination in 2016.