Ex-president’s visit to raise $100,000 for Hillary

By David Skolnick

Ex-president’s visit to raise $100,000 for Hillary

The former president is flying into the regional airport in Vienna.

CANFIELD — So, local businessman Bruce Zoldan invites former President Clinton to a Super Bowl party in Arizona to honor football legend Jim Brown.

Of course, Clinton accepts. During a conversation, Zoldan mentions if Ohio is “in play and [Clinton] had the time, I’d like you to stop by my house.”

No, this isn’t the beginning of a joke and there’s no punch line.

It’s the origin of Clinton’s visit today to Zoldan’s 11,871-square-foot, 13-room Canfield home. Clinton is coming to raise money for his wife’s presidential campaign.

The event is expected to raise about $100,000 for U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who won last week’s Ohio primary by 10 percentage points over U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Those attending will each contribute at least $1,000 and can give as much as the $2,300 presidential donation limit.

Clinton’s campaign said the ex-president won’t be available to speak to the local media.

The event is supposed to start about 7:30 p.m. Clinton is flying into the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna and then being driven to Zoldan’s house.

The trip is flying under the radar of law enforcement. Vienna police, the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department as well as the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Mahoning and Trumbull counties weren’t aware Monday that Clinton was coming here. They also said Secret Service agents haven’t contacted them for any assistance.

The next big-state Democratic primary is April 22 in Pennsylvania. The ex-president was to attend public events today in western Pennsylvania’s Butler and Washington counties before attending the private fundraiser at Zoldan’s house.

The presidential candidate visited the Mahoning Valley three times in the weeks leading to Ohio’s primary, and their daughter, Chelsea, spoke Feb. 26 at Youngstown State University. The former president never stumped in the area.

Instead of the Mahoning Valley, the ex-president spoke in places such as Chillicothe, Portsmouth, Findlay, Marion, Mansfield and Wooster.

“We deployed President Clinton to towns and regions of the state that Sen. Clinton was often not able to visit, thus expanding our reach and making our case to as many voters as possible,” said Isaac Baker, a Clinton campaign spokesman. “The Mahoning Valley was a key region for Sen. Clinton, which is why she visited the area on three separate occasions.”

The strategy worked as Clinton’s margin of victory in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties was significantly higher than it was statewide.

Zoldan said he received a telephone call Thursday asking him to host a fundraiser with Bill Clinton as the featured attraction.

When Clinton was president, Zoldan became friendly with him while lobbying on behalf of the fireworks industry.

Chief executive officer of B.J. Alan Co., a Youngstown fireworks company, Zoldan served three terms as president of the American Pyrotechnics Association, a fireworks trade association. He’s been on its board of directors for several years.

Clinton’s wife was the featured guest at Zoldan’s house in October 2006 for a fundraiser for Sherrod Brown, an Avon Democrat, who successfully won a U.S. Senate seat that year.

Zoldan co-sponsored an Obama fundraiser in June at the Boardman home of Herb Washington.

“I host political events for my community,” Zoldan said. “It helps put the Mahoning Valley on the map. The Mahoning Valley plays an important role in the presidency.”

Clinton trails Obama in the Democratic presidential delegate count, and unless Michigan and Florida are allowed to have delegates, she needs major victories in the remaining primaries to capture the party’s nomination.

(Michigan and Florida were stripped of their delegates by the Democratic National Committee because they violated party rules by conducting primaries before Feb. 5.)

Even with Clinton trailing, Zoldan said she is the only Democrat who can win the presidency because of her victory in Ohio and other larger states.

A race with Clinton and U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee, would be extremely close nationwide, Zoldan noted.

“If it’s Barack, he’ll have a tough time winning in Ohio,” he said.

Though Zoldan doubts Obama would run as Clinton’s vice presidential running mate, he said the pairing would be a “dream team.”

skolnick@vindy.com