Hillary raises funds at Indian-American gathering

Monday, 25 June 2007, 19:30 IST
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New York: At a high profile gathering of Indian-American supporters here, Senator Hillary Clinton raised about $2 million for her 2008 presidential race. The event 'Indian Americans for Hillary' drew about 1,000 people Sunday and was billed as the largest of its kind for the Indian-American community here, a group that Clinton has aggressively courted. Clinton recalled her first visit to India in 1996 and drew applause when she cited her work as co-chairperson of the Senate's India caucus, the New York Sun reported. "It is important in this new era in which we live that the relationship and partnership between India and America strengthen and deepen," she told the gathering. She also noted that India was poised to have its first female president in the next few weeks, referring to the United Progressive Alliance's presidential candidate Pratibha Patil. The event comes shortly after Clinton's leading Democratic opponent, Senator Barack Obama, apologised for an internal campaign memo that was critical of Clinton's close ties to the Indian-American community. Criticising Obama for the memo, prominent author Deepak Chopra said, "I thought that was ridiculous. We are American citizens, right? He's a minority. He should know better". Chopra said while Obama was a wonderful candidate, Clinton had a much bigger chance of winning. Apart from Chopra, many high-profile Indian-American physicians and bankers attended the event.
Source: IANS