Hassan Nemazee

The Obama campaign is in town to rally its fund-raisers and create new ones. Obama senior strategist David Axelrod is here for two meetings with the campaign's fund-raisers, reported yesterday in the New York Post, at which the Obama finance people have been encouraged to show up with friends who are Clinton supporters.

But the push to recruit the opposition is a measured one.  read more »

I just asked Hillary Clinton's finance chair Hassan Nemazee about accounts from other Clinton donors of Obama bundlers contacting them about the possibility of coming over to the campaign.

"There is only one instance that I know of in which a Clinton donor went over to the Obama campaign," said Nemazee. "I remain convinced, until shown otherwise, that donors, be they in New York or elsewhere, are sticking with Hillary and the campaign."

He added, "I would like, in my role, to hopefully be welcoming the Obama people over to Hillary Clinton's campaign. But obviously, we're at a point in the campaign where both common sense and the political reality is indicating that that's not one of my priorities at the moment. What I can say is, if I were the national finance chair of the presumed nominee, I would do everything in my power to welcome supporters of the opposing side into the campaign as much as possible."

He said that he had in fact done as much when he was in a similar position.  read more »

As a rule, the Clinton campaign tries to keep expectations down, but at least one of Hillary Clinton's top supporters is dispensing with the exercise as it applies to tomorrow's primary contests in North Carolina and Indiana.

"I think the momentum is very much in our direction and we are going to exceed expectations," said Hassan Nemazee, one of the campaign's finance chairs.

When asked if Tuesday would be the game-changer, Nemazee said, "You bet."

Hassan Nemazee, a finance chair for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, said he was not surprised by the defection of fund-raiser Gabriel Guerra-Mondragon to the Obama campaign.

"He came to me yesterday and gave me a heads-up," said Nemazee. "I like Gabriel and I consider him a friend.  read more »

I followed up with Clinton campaign finance chair Hassan Nemazee about that summit of big Clinton and Obama donors last night, and he told me that there was a bit of an epilogue to the spirited exchange he had with DNC chairman Howard Dean.

"He did call me," Nemazee said. "We did have a lengthy and a productive and constructive conversation regarding the issues that I had raised and the role that he could and hopefully will play in resolving the Florida and Michigan issue."  read more »

Some more details of the heated exchange between Howard Dean and Clinton supporters during last evening's Obama-Clinton donor summit on Fifth Avenue, from yet another attendee:

After Dean's initial remarks, Bernard Bergreen, a Hillary bundler, rose and said that Dean's address left out any discussion of Michigan and Florida, which was the critical bone of contention between the two campaigns.

Dean said that in his view, the question could be settled only after the primaries had finished in June, and after the superdelegates had made their decision.

At that point Clinton campaign finance chair Hassan Nemazee spoke up. He said Dean's response sounded to him as if the DNC chairman were "essentially trying to kick the can down the road" and that the chairman was not exhibiting the type of leadership one would expect. Nemazee said that since the campaigns obviously could not reach a solution on their own before June, Dean's argument amounted to passing the buck.

Dean then responded, heatedly, that in his experience, those who sought the intervention of party leadership were motivated by their own particular agendas. And that was not the sort of leadership he intended to provide.

Nemazee answered that he had in no way insinuated that Dean should bring about a particular outcome, and was only calling for the chairman to take a more active role in exercising leadership. Nemazee said it needed to happen before the primaries, not after.

He also said, according to the attendee, that he found Dean's tone accusatory and "pejorative."

Nemazee left shortly after the exchange.  read more »

Hassan Nemazee, one of Hillary Clinton's finance chairs, thinks that the punditocracy and media as a whole are getting way ahead of themselves in proclaiming Clinton sunk.

"The pundits are creating this impression that this is a foregone conclusion," said Nemazee, who thinks the Clinton campaign needs to do a better job of making clear that there is still a real path to victory for the candidate. "There needs to be a greater pushback on behalf of the campaign to make clear that this is far from over," he said. "Our internal numbers are showing us in both Texas and Ohio up by 8 points plus and the internal numbers have typically been fairly accurate for us."

Nemazee, like Bill Clinton and just about everyone else in Clintonland, allows that things get considerably bleaker if she fails to win one of those two states. That said, he thinks that wins in Texas and Ohio once again change the complexion of what has been an incredibly unpredictable race.

"If she is able to win both Texas and Ohio this is far from over,' said Nemazee. "And she will be able to put a stop to his ten wins in a row, pick up some delegates in Texas and Ohio and Pennsylvania and the other states where she can pick up a meaningful number of delegates."

   read more »

One of the Clinton campaign's finance chairs, Hassan Nemazee, called in to dispute Clinton fund-raiser John Catsimatidis' assertion that the number of Clinton donors moving to Obama were "too numerous to mention."

"We have seen no evidence whatsoever" of a defection, Nemazee said. "If anything we are delighted to still see so much enthusiasm."

Instead of an exodus, Nemazee said, his donors had actually rallied around their candidate this month. As evidence that the big money people are sticking with Hillary, Nemazee points out that Obama's massive haul in January came from small donations and Internet contributions. His major donor money, Nemazee said, was around $4 million, and only about $1 million of that probably came from New York donors. (I should also add that in calls I've have made to Obama supporters around the country in the last couple of days, none were able to cite any major donors who have defected to their column since Wisconsin.)  read more »

The dreary work of campaign field operations—knocking on doors, chatting up old people and cold calling for a candidate—is often carried out by eager college students wanting to make their first inroads into politics.

That was not the case on Ridgewood Street in Ames on December 15, when some of Hillary Clinton’s richest and most influential bundlers and donors—Hassan and Sheila Nemazee, Alan and Susan Patricof, and the former ambassador to Norway, Robin Duke—braved the icy elements and doorman-less ingresses of Iowa to proselytize for their good friend Hillary.

“Number one convert!” shouted Hassan Nemazee, a multi-millionaire investment banker who served as John Kerry’s New York finance chair in 2004. “I moved them from an Edwards to a Hillary.”

Mr. Nemazee, wearing iron-creased jeans, comfortable brown shoes, a blue winter coat and a red baseball cap emblazoned with a Ferrari stallion, was stepping cautiously along an ice-paved walk.

Across the street, Ms. Duke worked the even-numbered houses and was having a tougher time of it.  read more »

It's an old argument at this point, but one that hasn't become any less relevant: Whether Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would benefit from the collapse of their primary opponents.

The Obama campaign articulated their case to me some months back as to why his candidate would benefit if John Edwards ceases to be a viable candidate before Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, for example.

A few minutes ago, I spoke to Hassan Nemazee, an influential Clinton donor, who also felt Edwards voters in Iowa might lean towards Obama. But citing a recent Zogby poll, he contended that Clinton stood to benefit much more substantially from the orphaned supporters of the Biden, Dodd and Richardson campaigns.  read more »

Prominent Hillary Clinton supporter Hassan Nemazee says that the campaign's hiring today of Teresa Vilmain as the campaign's chief field operation official in Iowa (full memo from Clinton campaign after the jump) basically puts to rest any doubts a leaked campaign memo might have raised about Hillary's commitment to compete in the state.

Vilmain has worked on the 1992 and 1996 Clinton presidential campaigns and the 2000 Gore presidential campaign the campaigns. She also worked as a senior strategist on Tom Vilsack’s presidential campaign.

Vilsack has been adamant about Hillary competing in Iowa on as personal a basis as possible. Nemazee argued that the hiring of such an experienced Iowa operative as Vilmain amounted to the campaign committing to that strategy.

So, basically, another dismissal of the leaked Mike Henry memo, but also evidence that the campaign is struggling to make up some ground in Iowa.  read more »

For all the stuffy ladies’ lunches, and high-dollar dinners featuring this or that Presidentia  read more »

Hassan Nemazee, one of the most sought-after Democratic fund-raisers in the country -- and one of the highest profile fence-sitters in New York -- just told me that he has decided to back Hillary Clinton.

"I found the best candidate out there," he said.

Based on conversations with New York's big uncommitted donors in recent days, it seemed inevitable to me that the vast majority were going to fall into line after Hillary announced. Still, it's remarkable that it's all happening this quickly.

-- Jason Horowitz

In suit pants too short and black boots too polished, Al Gore stepped haltingly to the podium of the  read more »

In suit pants too short and black boots too polished, Al Gore stepped haltingly to the podium of the  read more »