Hillary pitches to make Obama a President with political strength

Washington, Oct 23 : Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has thrown her weight behind Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to make sure that he stands before the nation as a President with the political strength to break the gridlock, get things done, and start progress going in America again.

"We're throwing everything we've got into making sure (Obama) stands before the nation as a President with the political strength to break the gridlock, get things done, and start progress going in America again. And with a filibuster-proof Senate, we'll be able to bring the change this country so desperately needs," Clinton wrote.

On Wednesday, Clinton wrote an e-mail pitch for the DSCC that asks donors to help Democrats capture nine seats currently held by the GOP to reach the magic number of 60 seats in the Senate, the Washington Post reported.

She has returned to electoral politics with full force with the jump-starting of her political action committee, Hill PAC, which was not used after her disappointing second-place finish to Barack Obama in the presidential nomination sweepstakes.

Clinton did that late last month when she issued the first campaign contributions to congressional Democratic candidates since 2006, cutting 75,000 dollar worth of cheques to 14 campaigns for the House and Senate and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to reports filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission.

The first recipients of Clinton's PAC donations included several incumbents who are cruising to re-election but were prominent Clinton supporters during the primary campaign, including Ciro Rodriguez (D-Tex.) and Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.).

Clinton's generosity also extended to several challengers: Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina, who is trying to oust Senator Elizabeth Dole, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, who is running against Senator Ted Stevens, and former Hialeah, Fla., Mayor Raul Martinez, who is up against Lincoln Diaz-Balart.

Hill PAC had been essentially dormant for 2007 and the first half of 2008, while Clinton focused on her own effort to win the presidential nomination.

Before then, she used Hill PAC to make donations to key politicians in critical primary states and fund her political travels from 2004 to 2006, when she laid the groundwork for the 2008 campaign.

Clinton has now raised more than 1.1 million dollar for Hill PAC since early July, when her longtime friends and supporters started writing cheques to re-ignite her PAC.

ANI