THE SHADOW: HIL & CLAIRE BEAR CONVERSATE

The Shadow has great powers of surveillance. The Shadow sees all, hears all and tells all. This little tidbit comes from Shadow archives. Revealed for the first time on The Source, the following is a transcript from blackberry correspondence between Claire and Hillary shortly after McCaskill’s European Vacation¦

TO: bosslady@hillaryclinton.com (Senator Hillary Clinton)
FROM: shouldbegov@claireonline.com (Auditor Claire McCaskill)

Hil: Just got back from London. Very relaxing¦Europeans really know how to do it¦it’s so good to know there are still places left where people know their place. I just wish we had more time and could have visited France. From healthcare to international relations, they are clearly world thought leaders. They could certainly teach Missouri government a thing or two. Oh well, maybe after the elections this fall.

You should see the new Louis V shoulder bag I picked up. Tony says if I run I can’t take it on the trail with me in Missouri, but it will just be perfect for the dinner / funders that you and Teddy have promised to set up for me out east.

We had a productive dinner with Chuck in London. He said Soros promises a blank check and intimated that Kerry and Corzine would be supportive. I cannot stress how important their financial backing will be to this effort if I indeed run. With Nixon announcing for Governor and promising the trial attorneys he will repeal tort reform if elected that well is going to be limited. Labor is still mad at me for investing in Wal-Mart and as usual the Carnahan’s have a stranglehold on all the fringe interest group money.

I am really close to making a decision, but after talking it over with Joe, I need to resolve a couple of issues before making my final decision:

If I am going to appear to be a centrist democrat, there are a few people I just cannot have traveling to Missouri to support my race:

Howard Dean

John Kerry

Harry Reid

Nancy Pelosi

Ted Kennedy

Al Gore

You know I agree with them on almost every issue, but this campaign is going to be about taxes, guns, abortion and values. I will never be able to convince rural Missourians of my common sense, out-state values, if Howard and Teddy insist on helping.

Of course, you are my role model, but as much as I love you, dear, I would prefer you stay in New York this fall. You have a senate race to run and a presidential race to gear up for. I know you will need to travel to Missouri from time to time for your own purposes, just keep in mind I am going to have to distance myself from you, if not appear outright hostile. Just remember this is just campaign talk and I will be there for you in 2008 when you run for President. By then I will be an incumbent senator and have four years till re-election to convince these provincial dopes in rural Missouri that I really didn’t support you.

Finally, I have a few vulnerabilities on which I am going to need your team’s advice and help to spin properly. Foremost on my mind are my husband’s nursing home fortune. I haven’t ever conducted a real audit of the industry; meanwhile, my campaigns have been financed by nearly $2 million in nursing home money. That is bound to rear its ugly head again. And then there is the issue of the Iraq war. I need to be for it and against it. I’m not sure I see the clear path here. You have always done a remarkable job in this area and I could use your advice.

Would love to chat about this more, is there a good time to chat soon?

Claire

TO: shouldbegov@claireonline.com (Auditor Claire McCaskill)
FROM: bosslady@hillaryclinton.com (Senator Hillary Clinton)

Glad to hear din-din went well with Schumer. He’s a schmuck, but if he is engaged he can usually get Soros to cough up some serious dough.

As to nursing home money, use the same tactic I do with Bill, it has worked to perfection for years. First, deny, deny, deny. When Bubba took $450k from the Arabs in Dubai to help them get the ports deal, I simply denied any knowledge and was still able to be a vocal critic of the administration. Nursing homes are Joe’s business. You and he don’t talk about them and you have nothing to do with operating them. If the press is ever able to make an undeniable link, spin, spin, spin and accuse your opposition of making mean-spirited personal attacks on your family. I’m telling you it has worked for us for more than three decades.

I would love to chat today, but I am getting ready to board a plane for California. First I have a fundraiser with the Thomases, then it’s off to a studio meeting; I am considering a cameo on ABC’s new hit Commander in Chief, and then I have a meeting with Howard, Soros and Cindy Sheehan. If all goes well, I think we have a real good shot of recruiting her to run for Senate.

All the best. Hope to chat soon.

HRC