Hillary Raises Close to $4 million

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is thanking her contributors for ponying up nearly $4 million for her campaign coffers in the first quarter of 2005 - while pretending that her re-election next year is actually in jeopardy.

"With your support, we raised $3,958,924!" she told her donors in an e-mail on Monday. "Just as the right wing attack machines have started gearing up to defeat me in 2006, we're sending a strong signal that we will be ready to fight back."

True enough, New York State GOPers have launched a "Stop Her Now" campaign, complete with the promise that they'll raise $10 million to scuttle the former first lady's re-election bid.

But Republicans have apparently overlooked one critical detail. They forgot to field a candidate.

So far, no one with even a remote chance of defeating Hillary - a pool that is pretty much limited to Rudy Giuliani - has shown any interest in "stopping her now," Swift Boat-style campaign or no.

Still, Sen. Clinton is out there banging her tambourine, pretending that she desperately needs more campaign cash to survive in office.

"They're going to spend millions of dollars on personally negative attacks, hoping to keep me from speaking out on issues important to all of us," she warns, "like protecting Social Security, the need to count every vote, and the dangers of the 'nuclear option' that would end our democratic system of checks and balances."

"And with your continued help," Hillary continues, "we are going to go on building the campaign we need for 2006."

Not noted in the Clinton missive: Whatever portion of Hillary's war chest that doesn't get spent next year will certainly come in handy in 2008.