Hillary Clinton 2.0: The Money Machine Launches

On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced the true launch of her campaign: a high-profile move into all 50 states in a bid to turn purple states blue and red states purple.

In a video titled “The Power of Organizing,” Marlon Marshall, Hillary’s director of state campaigns, declares that Clinton would be organizing all over the country:

Organizing is the heart and soul of this campaign. As we speak, things are ramping up in all 50 states and the territories. Face-to-face conversations with your friends and neighbors are how we will win. So we’re doubling down on old-school organizing.

Clinton then appears, telling the camera:

This is your campaign. This is your time. There’s gonna be campaigns in all 50 states, and we’re gonna need as many people as we can to volunteer, to sign up, to help us organize because I need your voices to be speaking out on behalf of the issues that we think are important. I know we can do this, and I know we can do it together.

But the volunteering gig is secondary to the fundraising. Hillary Clinton’s manufactured “little people” campaign is about to take a back seat to raising as much cash from as many wealthy donors as possible. According to the Huffington Post, Hillary is already pumping her fundraisers, telling them that they ought to become part of the so-called “Hillstarters” campaign in which they raise $2,700 from ten people, and in exchange, get an audience with The Queen Bee.

This is the heart and soul of Clinton’s campaign. Back in January, her not-yet-announced campaign announced that they would engage in a shock-and-awe rollout designed to raise more money than God had ever created. A top Democratic donor told The Hill, “It’s going to be like nothing you’ve seen. The numbers will be astounding.” Similarly, Clinton fundraiser Alan Patricof said donors would be “tripping over themselves” to dump money on Clinton.

In February, Dennis Cheng, the chief development officer for the Clinton Foundation, announced he would be leaving his job there to take up the mantle of fundraiser for Clinton’s campaign. Cheng has not yet been asked about his role in alleged fundraising from foreign countries while Clinton was secretary of state, as detailed in the new Peter Schweizer book, Clinton Cash; he has not yet been asked about the commonality between donors to the Clinton Foundation and donors to her campaign fund, though The New York Times does report, “Many of the same donors to the Clintons’ political campaigns have given money to the foundation.”

Clinton largely went silent on fundraising between the announcement of Cheng’s job switch and the last several days. In fact, she tried to run as a candidate of the common man, going so far as to rip the “dysfunctional” political system in which campaigns rely on “unaccountable money.”

But now the charade is over. On Tuesday, the Huffington Post reported that donors and strategists for Clinton met at a “private strategy session” at which they pledged to raise “at least $100 million for the Democratic primary race.” CNN reports that the actual figure “is likely to be far higher.” Cheng showed up, as did Marshall, John Podesta, and campaign manager Robby Mook. They briefed 150 Clinton financial supporters at the home of Vernon Jordan. Hilariously, the Post reported, “The Clinton campaign reinforced that it will be focusing on middle-class issues.” Clinton’s first big fundraising events begin next week, with one in New York and one in Washington. Aides are already scheduled to hold events in Richmond, Baltimore, New York, DC, and Philadelphia in upcoming days.

Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the new book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration (Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). He is also Editor-in-Chief of TruthRevolt.org. Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.