Time to worry?

Clinton donors disagree on whether it's time to worry

Some new contributors are starting to 'freak out,' but older hands think she's got it in the bag. 

By Gabriel Debenedetti

With Iowa polls tightening and Bernie Sanders padding his lead in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton’s longtime fundraisers are still sanguine. But that's not true of some of her big-money backers who are newer to presidential politics. They are starting to air their concerns behind closed doors, eager to hear a contingency plan for what happens if Sanders wins the first two states.

Fundraisers have noted an uptick in nervous questions during the regular conference calls that top Clinton campaign officials have held with high-level fundraisers this month. Yet the concerns about Clinton’s strategy against Sanders are coming largely from deep-pocketed partisans who didn’t experience what older Clinton hands characterize as the true panic of January 2008.

This year’s tightening, they maintain, feels quite different. And both bundlers and campaign officials — armed with electoral maps, delegate plans, and polling figures — have been moving swiftly to erase the concerns. They insist that it’s way too early to panic -- but not too early to realize that Sanders isn’t nearly the threat the Barack Obama was.

“I’ve reminded Clinton backers that New Hampshire changes like the wind, [thinking back to 2008]. I told people: stay cool, don’t panic,” explained former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, who has been helping with Clinton’s fundraising as it marches toward its goal of $50 million in the first quarter of 2016. “My Philadelphia-area Clinton donors are a little nervous. But most donors know a little bit about politics, and a little bit sometimes hurts."

“I wouldn’t say it’s widespread panic,” added Rendell, a longtime Clinton ally and a veteran of the 2008 fight against Obama. “It’s jitters."

Added one West Coast fundraiser, “The ones who don’t know the game, the ones who are looking for their ambassadorships or their White House jobs, are the ones who are freaking out."

Clinton’s team has made a point of keeping her top fundraisers apprised of campaign strategy, making sure they hear the details of her long-term plans to collect delegates. At the highest levels, fundraisers get private briefings at the campaign’s Brooklyn headquarters. And she, her husband, and her daughter are set to headline at least 13 fundraisers between them before Feb. 1, according to invitations obtained by POLITICO, giving them more chances to reassure their wealthy backers in person.

Plus, bundlers of $50,000 or more have been invited to a “Finance Committee Weekend of Action” in Nashua, N.H. on the weekend before that state’s primary, where they’ll be briefed on the campaign’s plans and some will even do some door-knocking.

Meanwhile, campaign officials are prepared to tout some new fundraising statistics to reassure doubters: as Clinton ramps up her fight against Sanders, the money pitch has been easier to make, top contributors said. Wednesday was one of the campaign’s 10 best online fundraising days, after Sanders criticized Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign as being part of the political “establishment” that’s rallying around Clinton, said a campaign source.

Nonetheless, in interviews, nearly a dozen individuals close to the top levels of Clinton’s fundraising effort said donors are increasingly expressing worries about Sanders in the weeks ahead of voting.

On calls and in individual meetings, top Clinton officials from the political and fundraising teams have been patiently walking a handful of unnerved fundraisers through the candidate’s plan for the coming months when the supporters bring up concerns ranging from her standing in Iowa to her ability to navigate the Nevada caucus system, according to people familiar with the conversations. The Clinton team has told shaken supporters that it has a long-term delegate strategy that can reach into June, if necessary, and that Sanders is lucky that Iowa and New Hampshire — two states that suit him politically — come first.

Some bundlers have also taken to calling around to their circles of donors to make sure no one is getting too nervous about Sanders’ long-term viability, part of an effort to stop hand-wringing before it starts.

Meanwhile, Clinton’s many supporters who’ve been through a presidential race with her before remain relatively comfortable, at least compared to 2008, thanks to the level of reassurance they’ve gotten, and to the belief that Sanders stands little chance once voting reaches more Clinton-friendly states later in February and in early March.

In the words of Tom Nides, a former deputy secretary of state under Clinton who is now a Morgan Stanley executive, “The bottom line is that, with the greatest amount of respect, Bernie Sanders is not Barack Obama."

“If someone wipes their nose in the Clinton campaign the media will claim it’s a Typhoid epidemic,” added Clinton friend and fundraiser Robert Zimmerman. "Of course people are excited. They’re nervous for Hillary. But everyone who is literate enough to write a check knew that this was going to be a competitive process. But there is a tremendous resolve and belief that Hillary Clinton is going to be victorious."

And while the unsettled feeling among fundraisers who are new to Clinton’s orbit has some bundlers recalling the late summer — when speculation about Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential plans started ramping up — this time no donors are considering jumping ship.

“This is not a big deal. These ups and downs happen. People who have been through this before know that there are ups and downs in any campaign. Polls tighten,” said Imaad Zuberi, a top Los Angeles fundraiser. “At the end, she’ll get out ahead. As far as top bundlers are concerned, we’re all in with her because she is the best for our country."

Nonetheless, even the most optimistic fundraisers are girding for a long fight, with many expecting Sanders to out-raise Clinton this quarter, especially if his supporters are energized by the results in Iowa and New Hampshire.

But even more said Sanders’ polling climb has added a sense of urgency to their own pitches to donors, due largely to widespread doubts that Sanders could beat Donald Trump or Ted Cruz in a general election.

“I love Bernie, I’ve always gotten along with him, I admire his passion, and I’m glad he’s brought these issues up,” said Rendell. But, looking ahead to November, “I’m worried he’d win Vermont, and nothing else."