Angling for Edwards’ Loyal Lawyers

Politics mixed with martinis and swizzle sticks this weekend as campaign aides from Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s camps infiltrated a Puerto Rican resort in an effort to woo John Edwards’ colleagues and supporters at an annual gathering of top American trial lawyers. 

The Washington Post:

So in conference rooms, at the casino and by the pool, the Obama and Clinton finance officials engaged in what could only be described as a campaign within the campaign, this one targeting financial backers instead of voters.

Their efforts come at a critical time. While the two Democrats have each raised more than $100 million over the past year, they have now spent the vast majority of that money. They are just days from the mega-primaries scheduled for Feb. 5 and need to feed enormous field operations and a television advertising budget that is already consuming more than $2 million every day.

Clinton and Obama have recognized that this stage of the campaign will require a fresh team of bundlers—supporters who can not only donate their own money but also gather scores of $2,300 checks from friends and colleagues. The logical place to turn is to their struggling—and in some cases, vanquished—rivals.

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AP photo / Mike Wintroath

Terry McAuliffe, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair. This past weekend, McAuliffe chatted up Edwards supporters at a trial lawyers gathering in Puerto Rico.