Anti-Clinton well dries up

GOP donors shut wallets

The vast right-wing conspiracy seems to have gone broke.

Sen. Hillary Clinton's run for reelection was supposed to be a magnet for anti-Clinton money.
Millions poured in from around the country to her 2000 opponents, first Rudy Giuliani, then Rick Lazio.

It was expected to be a repeat in 2006, especially given that it presented an opportunity to cripple her before a possible 2008 presidential run.

"Stopping Hillary Clinton is the most important thing you and I can do as Republicans in the next two years," state GOP Chairman Steven Minarek said last year, urging supporters to give generously.

With unusual fanfare, shadowy Republican operative Arthur Finkelstein launched a political action committee called Stop Her Now that he said would raise at least $10million.

Former New York Rep. John Leboutillier had a similar goal for his own PAC, Stop Hillary.

But the dough failed to materialize. Both anti-Clinton PACs not only fizzled but went into debt.
Finkelstein's managed to scrape up about $13,000 - but spent about $47,000, much of it on failed telemarketing to raise more. In May, he conceded he had failed to derail her. "It's more than likely that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic [presidential] nominee," he told the Jewish Ledger weekly.

Leboutillier, whose PAC is $124,000 in the red, said he was flummoxed. "I thought we were going to raise money quickly and it just didn't happen," he said.

He chalked it up to the disappointing failure of the 2000 effort to scuttle Clinton's then-much-weaker candidacy and her commanding poll lead now. "Out there in America, I'm amazed when I go around: They just assume she's going to get reelected no matter what, so why waste their money?" Leboutillier said.........