Anatomy of a Hillary Clinton trip: Stump, sell, get paid

Posted: Published on October 3rd, 2014

This post was added by Dr Simmons

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

MIAMI (CNN) -- Hillary Clinton covered all her bases in Miami on Thursday: She padded her wallet with a paid speech, pitched her memoir with a book signing and fundraised for a Democrat in a critical presidential state.

This is becoming a familiar formula for Clinton. In October alone Clinton has four trips planned -- to Miami, Chicago, Las Vegas and San Francisco -- where she will combine a paid speech with either a book event or a fundraiser for a Democratic candidate or group.

The strategy is part logistical, part practical for Clinton. But as she considers a presidential run in 2016, it is also calculated. Campaigning for Democrats in 2014 allows her to curry favor with her party ahead of 2016, while selling her book and speaking to paid gigs lets her raise her profile (not that it is needed) and toy with talking points in front of supportive audiences.

Clinton ended her day Thursday in Florida at the sprawling Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables at a fundraiser for Charlie Crist, Florida's Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democratic candidate for governor.

The event was closed to the press, but according to multiple sources in the room, Clinton both touted Crist as the right choice for governor and spoke about bigger picture issues like the a woman's right to choose, growing the middle class and the importance of the space program to Florida.

The audience responded well to Clinton's fundraising calls, according to those in the room, and a Crist campaign spokesman told CNN that the event raised roughly $1 million for the Democrat's effort. The most expensive table at the event cost $50,000.

Clinton also said, according to one source, that she believed in "redemption and second chances," a remark that was seen as an acknowledgment of Crist's past as a Republican who called on Bill Clinton to resign the presidency during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

The former Secretary of State started her day, however, at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, a white washed, swanky establishment were the Clinton was paid to appear before 1,200 people at the Commercial Real Estate Women Network Convention.

The event was announced in May, long before her appearance with Crist was announced last month.

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Anatomy of a Hillary Clinton trip: Stump, sell, get paid

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