Dem donors to Hillary: Give us more Bill

According to The Hill, the Democratic money movers are lamenting Hillary’s “lack of a personal touch” that’s making fundraising a bit difficult.

The donors, who have contributed some of the biggest checks to President Obama and the Democratic Party, are disappointed by the lack of face time, overall communication and gratitude from Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail.

“Fundraising is not a natural strong suit for Hillary,” one top Democratic fundraiser bluntly said.

Hillary Clinton is “lacking a certain personal touch,” the person said. The source added that the former secretary of State “publicly, is a little stiff.”

Image source: Mario Tama/Getty Images

What’s the fix? More Bill — he’s got got the schmoozing creds:

“She doesn’t come across as naturally comfortable in these settings,” the donor said. “Bill Clinton is the complete opposite. The more social an environment, the more at ease he feels.”

Bill Clinton is starting to make the rounds at fundraisers — he attended his first two big-dollar events in Chicago last week. And the Clinton campaign says there are plans for the former president to appear at more fundraisers for his wife this fall.

Clinton — who famously opened up the Lincoln Bedroom during his presidency — is also set to attend fundraisers for Priorities USA, the super-PAC backing his wife’s bid.

The potential problem in that strategy? It makes Hillary look like a D.C. insider. Bill even agrees, telling Town & Country magazine last spring: “I think it’s important, and Hillary does too, that she go out there as if she’s never run for anything before and establish her connection with the voters. And that my role should primarily be as a backstage adviser to her until we get much, much closer to the election.”

So, what’s a Democratic Party to do?

Forget Hillary’s alleged “outsider” status and get the former POTUS back out there:

Face time with the candidate has been limited to brief grip-and-grins in photo lines after an event, with no phone calls and few meetings with small groups.

The sentiment that Hillary Clinton isn’t doing enough for donors is echoed far and wide among the relatively small circle of people who like to feel appreciated not only for writing large checks but for their countless hours fundraising for the candidate. […]

“The assumption is that everyone is just going to get behind them because they’re the only game in town,” the donor said. “But this is why there’s an opening for someone like Joe Biden.”

“If this was a business, you’d never run it that way,” the donor said. “I’ve been unbelievably shocked by the lack of basic courtesy.”

A second donor, who has given money to the Clinton campaign, agreed. “There needs to be more than a 10-second photo-op in a long photo line. The campaign needs someone to cultivate these relationships. The person who can do that ably is Bill Clinton.” […]

“There is no better surrogate for a candidate,” [venture capitalist and Clinton donor J.B. Pritzker] said. “He is out there now and he is helping and it can only be a big plus for the campaign.”

That’s right. Democratic donors think that, without Bill, Vice President Joe Biden is looking better every day.

Image source: AP Photo/Susan Walsh