Hillary Clinton recently captured the endorsement of billionaire Warren Buffet, who served Donald Trump a tax-document challenge and worked plenty of pro-Clinton goodwill. Buffet’s own words made up for his relatively small campaign contributions, which are beside the point with a name like Buffet. Despite any monetary amount, Buffet delivered by calling out Trump for his sketchy financial dealings and statements against the Khan family. Yet Clinton’s latest endorsement is a bigger political and financial score.
Meg Whitman, the Hewlett Packard CEO and Republican fundraiser, officially endorsed Clinton on Tuesday. This is a substantial departure from Whitman’s usual party lines, but as we’ve learned recently, the lines are blurred with this election. All bets are off, and Whitman has decided #ImWithHer. She’s also pledging a “substantial” donation to the Clinton campaign, all in the interest of halting Donald Trump’s journey to the White House. Whitman delivered the news to the New York Times while acknowledging that Clinton had actively courted her (and other GOP fundraisers), but she was perfectly game to toss aside the GOP and encourage her fellow Republicans to do the same:
“I will vote for Hillary, I will talk to my Republican friends about helping her, and I will donate to her campaign and try to raise money for her.” While acknowledging she diverged from Mrs. Clinton on many policy issues, Ms. Whitman said it was time for Republicans “to put country first before party.”
Using remarkably blunt language, she argued that the election of Mr. Trump, whom she called “a dishonest demagogue,” could lead the country “on a very dangerous journey.” She noted that democracies had seldom lasted longer than a few hundred years and warned that those who say that “it can’t happen here” are being naive.
Whitman also held Trump out as a threat to democracy itself, which is a sentiment held by many voters from both major parties. However, Trump’s messy candidacy has only worsened with time and — perhaps — culminated with his faux Purple Heart ceremony, which swiftly followed after the first Democratic congressman to switch loyalties. Maybe one day, party lines will hold meaning again. But for now, Whitman says she’s ready to donate her name and “mid-six figures” to the Clinton campaign.
(Via New York Times)