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Hillary Clinton is raising millions from hedge funds, thanks to Citizens United

It's a stark contrast to her primary opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders, whose campaign was fueled primarily by small donations and who vocally refused to create super PACs of his own.
US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton arrives to speak on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 28 July 2016. (Justin Lane/EPA)

Thanks to Citizens United, Hillary Clinton is raising millions from hedge funds.

There's a businessman in the race, but that isn't stopping hedge funds from dumping cash into Clinton's campaign for president. Seven financial firms have offered up $48.5 million to the web of pro-Clinton groups working to get her elected, while Trump's coffers hold a comparatively meager $19,000, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Clinton's hedge fund bonanza is thanks in large part to the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling, which torpedoed restrictions on outside spending and paved the way for the era of super PACs.

That's a ruling that Clinton's campaign is nevertheless promising to reverse. Her website's "campaign finance reform" page leads with a vow to undo Citizens United.

"Overturn Citizens United — the Supreme Court case that unleashed hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate and special-interest money into U.S. elections," the page reads.

"Hillary will appoint Supreme Court justices who will protect Americans' right to vote over the right of billionaires to buy elections", it adds.

Among the billionaires exercising that right, according to the Center for Responsive Politics: Democratic party stalwarts such as Haim Saban of Saban Capital Group, which gave $10 million to pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA; James Simons, founder of Renaissance Technologies, which contributed $9.5 million, and George Soros, whose investment firm has given $7 million for Clinton.

The party that hates big banks sure did pick the wrong place to hold their convention.https://t.co/63PNWlC3YD
— CAFE (@cafedotcom) July 27, 2016

It's a stark contrast to her primary opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders, whose campaign was fueled primarily by small donations and who vocally refused to create super PACS of his own. The closest thing he had going for him was the National Nurses Union, whose super PAC only raised around $2.4 million to back Sanders.

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"I do not have a super PAC, and I do not want a super PAC," Sanders said earlier this year.

This year's Democratic National Convention was certainly welcoming to big business. The convention was held in an arena built by and for corporate banking titan Wells Fargo, mega-donors swilled cocktails at the Ritz-Carlton, and billionaire and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg took a coveted speaking slot to slam Trump.

As the Journal notes, Trump did not ask for outside money until recently, so he's trailing Clinton in the race for billionaire bucks. Up until his nomination, hedge fund money was going to Jeb Bush ($17 million), Senator Marco Rubio ($15 million) and Senator Ted Cruz ($14 million).

Clinton, meanwhile, promises to "propose a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United" within her first 30 days in office.

Follow Brendan James on Twitter: @deep_beige