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I was interviewed by NPR's All Things Considered today for their story on the role of superdelegates and the intriguing tale of Rhode Island Democratic fundraiser (and superdelegate) Mark Weiner: Suppose you wanted a "Hillary for President" highlighter set. The campaign has them for sale: star-shaped, with five colored markers. They cost $5. To buy a Hillary highlighter, you would go to Clinton's campaign Web site and click on the button that says "store." That would take you to HillaryStore.com, which is not actually run by the campaign. The campaign instead contracted it out to a supplier, Financial Innovations Inc. of Cranston, R.I.The owner of Financial Innovations is Mark Weiner, a superdelegate and one of the 794 Democratic elite whose votes at the convention will settle the Democratic contest. Weiner started making Democratic campaign paraphernalia in 1976, when Jimmy Carter first ran for president, and he has been at it ever since. He has also served as Rhode Island Democratic chairman. But as Rhode Island blogger and Obama supporter Matt Jerzyk points out, Weiner comes by his superdelegate status for other reasons."The real story is he's a very close Clinton friend," Jerzyk says. "He's raised incredible amounts of money — not only for the Clintons, but for dozens and dozens of other federal Democratic candidates around the country."The audio version - available at this link - is somewhat different than the text above so give it a listen. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] |
