Some see an helping McAuluiffe as opportunity for Hillary to connect with her donors. | REUTERS Clintons go all out for McAuliffe

Terry McAuliffe spent most of the year running for Virginia governor as his own man, not the decades-long friend of Bill Clinton he’s best known as.

Yet by the time Election Day rolls around, Bill and Hillary Clinton will have held at least a dozen events between them for the man favored to become the Commonwealth’s next governor. Most of them are fundraisers, but on Saturday Hillary Clinton will hold a women-themed event for McAuliffe in Falls Church, Va., her first purely political outing since she left Foggy Bottom early this year.


And while nothing has been confirmed, Bill Clinton is likely to be the attraction at a public event on McAuliffe’s behalf before the Nov. 5 election, a source familiar with the race said.

The involvement is much more extensive than the handful of events most expected the former first couple would stage on behalf of their longtime pal, who has generally tried to avoid giving the race against Republican Attorney General Ken Cucinelli a national imprimatur.

( PHOTOS: Terry McAuliffe’s career)

Political watchers see an opportunity for Hillary Clinton to connect with her donors, many of whom are close with McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman and veteran fundraiser, and to dip a toe into the politics of a critical presidential state, without having to come under attack as a candidate herself.

But people close to both Clintons, as well as backers of McAuliffe, insist this is strictly about helping a friend who’s asked for it. Of course, Bill Clinton loves a good political event. And donors, after five years of getting a comparatively cold shoulder from President Barack Obama, lap up the attention.

“As it turns out, with Virginia being a critical state, it doesn’t hurt” for Hillary Clinton to be seen helping, said Brian Moran, who finished behind McAuliffe in the Democratic primary for governor in Virginia in 2009. “But I really think that is secondary to their relationship. …The crux of this is that Terry and the Clintons go way back, and there’s a genuine friendship that exists between them.”

( PHOTOS: Who’s talking about Hillary 2016?)

Several donors described the Clintons’ appeals to the monied set as a welcome change from the Obama years, which were marked by few of the routine gestures that the Clintons were known for – invitations to White House events and dinners, personal calls, and so forth.

“It’s not so hard to give a basic ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’” sniffed one donor, referring to Obama’s approach over the years, which has been known for rubbing even some of his backers the wrong way.

Still, what’s been most striking about the scope of in-tandem Clinton activity has been the mere fact that it’s happening, and so openly. The pair are experienced and agile fundraisers, even with a group of donors who consider McAuliffe a friend, and they have appeal to Virginia Democrats. But McAuliffe, who has had little political identity outside of the Clintons for many years, has spent the majority of his second run for governor trying to establish himself as something other than a subsidiary of Clinton Inc.

Hillary Clinton’s appearances for McAuliffe have been mostly in the past few weeks, roughly within the time frame that people in her orbit had indicated she would do something for the candidate. In addition to the public event on Saturday, she is hosting two fundraisers that will bracket the appearance – one of them a high-dollar dinner in McLean, according to a source familiar with the planning.

( PHOTOS: Bill Clinton’s life and career)

She’s held two fundraisers for McAuliffe, one in Washington at her home, and one this past week in New York City, where she was the star guest. The hosts were former Goldman Sachs financial advisers Peter and Paul Scialla, as well as entrepreneur Morad Fareed and Jonathan Mantz, Hillary Clinton’s national finance director in her 2008 presidential race. The room was filled with New York faces she has known over the years, including former state Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs, and veteran Democratic National Committee member Robert Zimmerman.

McAuliffe himself was not on hand, but his wife Dorothy was, and both she and Hillary Clinton gave remarks, according to an attendee. Clinton talked about McAuliffe’s “bipartisan” appeal and described him as running against a hard-right candidate in his race, a source who was on hand for her remarks said.

The comments were more political than her speech at the fundraiser she hosted at her home in Washington on Sept. 30, where she largely focused on McAuliffe personally, according to guests.

She’ll speak again when she headlines a fundraiser for McAuliffe in Los Angeles in the next two weeks.

The only other person whom Hillary Clinton is helping this year is Bill de Blasio, her 2000 U.S. Senate campaign manager who is poised to become New York City mayor. She will host a fundraiser for him on Monday evening in Manhattan.

Both Clintons have stayed out of the Cory Booker race for U.S. Senate, in which President Obama made an endorsement and called to congratulate him. Booker was an early Obama backer, and the two have a personal relationship.

Obama and his wife Michelle have gotten minimally involved in the Virginia race, by comparison, and neither the president nor the Clintons have waded into New Jersey’s gubernatorial race, where Democrat Barbara Buono is on track to get trounced by Gov. Chris Christie.

Hillary Clinton allies stress that, save for helping friends, she has basically stayed out of politics this year. When issues she cares about have come up and she wants to be heard, the former Secretary of State has weighed in, they say, but by and large she has kept a low profile.

Bill Clinton, meanwhile, has remained as politically active as ever this year, including supporting people who backed his wife in her presidential run in 2008, as has been his custom. He’s helped other candidates as well, though none as much as McAuliffe.

He has hosted or headlined at least three fundraisers just for McAuliffe in New York City, (for one of them, Hillary Clinton was erroneously described as a potential attendee to guests in advance of the event). Those fundraisers were in addition to a Democratic Governors Association event Clinton headlined in New York.

Clinton has held at least two fundraisers in Florida for McAuliffe, and is set to host another in Virginia on Oct. 28. One of the Florida fundraisers was a last-minute event planned on the fly, in a vintage moment for Clinton, who was already visiting the state and asked prominent lawyer John Morgan to help put together a quick group.

“They have been through a lot together,” said Morgan. “He’s been with them through some of their most trying times. They have an intimacy with Dorothy and Terry that they probably don’t have with anybody else. It’s almost family more than friendship at this point.”

He described Bill Clinton as completely in his element last Monday, a man who so loves the political game that he outlasted almost every other guest there.

“For Bill Clinton, this charges him up,” he said. “Most people walk in with a full battery and leave with the battery empty. This guy walks in with an empty battery and leaves fully charged.”

Morgan said when he and his children left the event, Clinton was still gabbing, after touching on the government shutdown, national politics, and Arkansas politics.

“It feels weird that we’re leaving before the president,” Morgan recalled his son saying.

“I said, ‘Well, we didn’t bring our pajamas,’” Morgan added.

Moran said the plain reality is that both Clintons have an appeal with the party’s voters, especially Hillary Clinton, who will be making an explicit pitch to women at the event Saturday.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “They are both extremely popular particularly among the base and we need the base to turn out on Nov. 5.”