by John McCormick
Sen. Hillary Clinton is expected in Chicago today for two fundraising events which organizers say are expected to net about $750,000.
The New York Democrat's arrival comes just days after her presidential campaign announced that she raised more money during the third quarter than Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
Jay Robert "J.B." Pritzker, a Chicago billionaire who is a national co-chairman for the Clinton campaign, said it is starting to get easier to raise money in Obama's home city.
"I wouldn’t call it hedging their bets," he said. "It's still a tough environment, but the purse strings for her have loosened here."
Collecting $750,000 in a single day from Chicago is an impressive sum for Clinton, although it is still smaller than the $1.5 million to $2 million Obama collected in the city by attending four back-to-back events in June.
Pritzker's sister, Penny Pritzker, is Obama's national finance chairman. "It's not a competition," he said, when asked about his sibling's fundraising efforts.
Pritzker said he was not prepared to criticize his favorite candidate for her recent answer in a debate about whether she would root for the Cubs or the Yankees, should the teams ever find themselves in the World Series.
"That is a tough one for her," Pritzker said.
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Comments
Is anyone as tired of hearing of the Pritzkers as I am, especially after their
Children's "Museum" fiasco?
Posted by: Alger | October 4, 2007 7:44 AM
I'm soooo happy she will get all that money, it will take some of the sting out of having to return the $ 850,000 from the criminal Norman Hsu. I find it curious there isn't much said about it from the New York Times or even the Trib. for that matter. I wonder why that is ?
Posted by: Don B. | October 4, 2007 8:33 AM
Obama's campaign has clearly stalled - Hillary has led in the polls for months and recently achieved her largest lead against him(53% to 20%) in yesterday's ABC/WA Post poll.
She is on track to be elected President and won't it be nice to have a smart, strong and able woman in the White House!
Posted by: csh | October 4, 2007 9:22 AM
If Hillary's so smart, why couldn't she remember anything in her Grand Jury testimony about the Whitewater land fraud in which she was involved. And why is it she can't answer simple questions from Tim Russert, and instead, just chuckles (or as the Tribune says today, "cackles."
Posted by: LaTrice | October 4, 2007 11:16 AM
csh,Obama's campaign hasn't stalled. It's spun out. That's due to a shameful press that prints ideas out of context, feeds on controversy, and deliberately misleads. Unfortunately this is to our own peril. Watch Clinton pick Lieberman for V.P. Her campaiang is not about change its about more of the same. Beware.
Posted by: jdr | October 4, 2007 11:19 AM
Anyone notice how the Swamp tends to
act as a daily puff piece for Clinbama?
Posted by: Harry T. | October 4, 2007 12:37 PM
This is not surprising seeing how she just raised a record amount of fundraising in the 3rd quarter. I can only assume that those of you who are cowardly enough to attack someone personally that you don't even know are just frightened by the fact that so many people have found a WOMAN who has the strength and experience to lead on day one.
Posted by: Ryan | October 4, 2007 3:55 PM
Yeah, you're right Alger. We really are tired of the Pritzker Pavilion, Pritzker School, Prizker Park. How dare these people keep subjecting us to their generosity! They should just keep their millions and stay at home...
Posted by: Dave | October 4, 2007 6:21 PM