When The Washington Post exposed Hillary Clinton's contract for a March speech at UCLA, the terms looked more like something a rock star might demand than something from a former senator and first lady.
Among the details Clinton negotiated were the color and style of the armchairs she would be sitting on, the plates of hummus and crudités she demanded and the number of photos she would be willing to pose for.
Oh, yes, she also told the school it would have to cough up a $300,000 speaking fee on top of all this to get her.
When a college representative asked if Mrs. Clinton would consider a discounted rate because it was a public university, her people quickly responded: This was the discounted university rate.
Naturally, the blogosphere has had a field day with these details, which came not long after Hillary had written about how she and Bill were "dead broke" at the White House.
But what's interesting to us is what it says about the state of campaign-finance reform. One UCLA alumnus, attorney Charles McKenna, e-mailed this to the university:
"In effect, this is a campaign appearance, as Ms. Clinton is undeniably looking into a presidential run in 2016. Why is a public university charging the public for the pleasure of providing Ms. Clinton the benefit of a high-profile platform?"
The Washington Post reports that UCLA officials responded by looking up McKenna's donations. They quickly determined that while he had donated he was not among the big-money givers. So McKenna never did get an answer.
But McKenna's question remains a good one, especially because the $300,000 went to the Clintons' non-profit family foundation. That may sound generous.
In fact, all it really means is that Clinton's income here becomes non-taxable — even as the foundation remains free to pick up many of her travel expenses.
Bradley A. Smith, chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics, says that while this may look fishy, it's all legal so long as Hillary Clinton hasn't formally announced she's running for president.
Most interesting of all, it's been met with mostly silence from all those people who think the Koch brothers are evil for funding commercials that support their beliefs.
"Until she declares," Smith said, "she's pretty much free to do what she wants, but there is a point at which, if you look and walk and sound like a duck . . . "
Think of it as the Audacity of Hope — Hope, Ark., that is.
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