Obama has asked his donors to help pay Hillary’s debt:
Sen. Barack Obama has asked top contributors to help his former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, retire her debt, an Obama campaign source said Tuesday.
Obama did not direct members of his National Finance Committee to contribute to Clinton’s campaign, the source said, but asked them to do so if they were so inclined.
Clinton suspended her campaign and endorsed Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination this month.
She has amassed a campaign debt of about $22 million, but about $12 million of that is money the New York senator loaned to the campaign herself.
Candy Crowley on CNN stated that Hillary is going to eat her own loans, but just wants help retiring the other ten million outstanding. While it is normal for candidates to help pay down the debt of those they have defeated (Crowley mentioned Hillary helping Tom Vilsack’s debt when he left the race), I am unaware of a campaign helping to pay down this much debt.
As a side note, I wonder if this will engender any good will for Obama from former Clinton supporters, and it will be interesting to see how the Clinton bloggers react. Not only is helping her pay down her campaign debt a gesture of good will, but it is important to remember where that debt is from. The debt, if you think about it, is from the last few months of the campaign when Clinton went with the kitchen sink strategy. Obama is now subsidizing the “White People Won’t Vote For Him” Appalachian tour, the 3 am ad, and the rest of the bile they chucked his way over the last two months when it was clear Clinton could not win. If Clinton supporters can not recognize this gracious gesture from Obama, they are hopeless.
*** Update ***
I guess we have our answer. Hopeless.
rob!
you answered your own question, john.
John S.
I suspect myiq or p.luk will be by to inform us all that while they are heartened by this ‘gesture’, there is a laundry list of shit and several hoops of fire that Obama will have to junmp through before they can bring themselves to vote for him.
JR
No.
zzyzx
Most of them already DO support Obama. No, the no quarterites and hillaryis44ers won’t, but that’s about all that’s left.
4tehlulz
Obama still is black and has a cock, so I’m not too optimistic.
rob!
b-i-n-g-o!
if you’re STILL holding an anti-Obama, she-wuz-robbed grudge, ain’t nothing gonna dispell that.
after all, why should they support Obama? he’s the one keeping truth teller Larry Sinclair in jail!
zzyzx
Oh and the good thing is that the no quarter crew is wasting so much time examining random trivia about Obama’s first few days of life (latest post, “OMG, Obama and his mom flew to Mercer Island [suburb of Seattle] when he was like a week old. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!?!?” and no, I’m not making that up], that they don’t have time to research anything that might really hurt him.
Kevin K.
Damn you, JR, I wanted to play that game.
What blog should we start with to prove you’re correct?
rwm
Will Obama Nation ever be able to wrap its collective head around the concept that many people–for many reasons–find their candidate to be seriously deficient?
No.
myiq2xu
No, but if you suck my dick it might help.
LarryB
First, the debt is historically large because the money on all sides was historically large in this primary. Second, your CDS is showing again. Watch out or you’ll end up as unreadably bitter as Taylor Marsh.
estragon
Hilariously, Jeralyn at Talk Left thinks this is yet another slap in the face and uses this to criticize Obama.
Awesome!
rob!
rwm, myiq, larryb = moe, larry, curly
Davebo
myiq2xu Says: …..
Well now we know what Larry Sinclair does in his spare time.
John Cole
Could you point out the Clinton hatred in this post, please?
But Jeralynn and Armando support Obama. How do I know? Because they said so once in between 15 posts criticizing him.
Zifnab
Fixed
I think acts of goodwill like this, whether or not they are misguided, will help prod Democratic Generalists into becoming full fledged Obama loyalists.
Furthermore, I can’t imagine there won’t be a little back scratching at the end, with Clinton fund raisers turning around and donating to Obama in kind. So in this sense, Clinton and Obama can both walk out of this winners. It’s other people’s money, after all.
When Hillary finally turned around and endorsed Obama, these guys were basically kicked to the fringest of the fringe. They’ll keep bleeding support now that Hillary is out of the race and they don’t have a real candidate to back anymore. It’s really hard to keep up enthusiasm about a candidate who isn’t running around the country giving stump speeches anymore. And McCain isn’t exactly inspiring.
I suspect even Hillary44 will eventually come around. No Quarter is a fucking lost cause, however.
Incertus
Jeralyn is acting like a fucking moron here. Obama didn’t say “some,” at least not according to the article. The source said “some,” and the person who first discussed the fund raising being limited was Clinton herself.
kid bitzer
i imagine the dead-ender’s lament goes:
“helping to pay off her debt?
what’s next, buying her dinner?
opening doors for her?
it’s condescending! it’s arrogant! it’s demeaning!”
or words to that effect.
oh well. time heals all wounds.
most wounds.
some wounds.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
Hey Hey – Maureen Dowd writes a column you can read without wincing.
I registered at Hillary is 44 and it allows me to log-in but my posts never appear. It’s like only 10 people have the permissions necessary to actually post. I’ve included all of the appropriate “NObama” and “Democratic?” keywords but no luck.
Tzal
SLAP IN THE FACE!!!!
Sorry, I just had a flashback of the WoW Mage forums. Nerf Hope.
slag
Just wondering when they’ll start calling Hillary dead-enders “Ms. Grievance” like they did Michelle Obama.
Oh…that’s right. Most of them are white.
Barry
I’d guess by now that there’s only a few genuine Democrats still dead-ending, and all of those are either bought and paid for, or have serious mental problems (and I’m not joking or mocking; I mean they’re messed up).
The majority will be Republicans obeying Rush’s ’cause chaos’ order. At this point, unless the person is known to be a Democrat, I presume them to be a GOP mole.
Elvis Elvisberg
Yeah, her conclusion is OK, JAF Rusty Shackleford, but I had to get through this stuff to get to it: “Obama can be aloof and dismissive at times, and he’s certainly self-regarding, carrying the aura of the Ivy faculty club. … a prince of privilege.”
Then:
Meh. Still Dowd.
4tehlulz
You know, in a just world, Maureen Dowd’s computer would become self-aware and beat the shit out of her with its keyboard. The complete hypocrisy of her writing this demands nothing less.
Bob In Pacifica
As I am still banned over there at TalkLeft I don’t get to read the comments. What am I missing? Is myiq cruising over there too? Does his statement have anything to do with how the Clinton campaign was fundraising or is it just a reflection as to how they ended up 20 mil in the hole?
May I suggest a yard sale with everything and the kitchen sink?
Incertus
At the very least, a self-aware internet would automatically replace the word “liberal” with “batshit crazy” wherever it’s found in proximity to a discussion of Dowd’s writing.
myiq2xu
Lots of full-frontal nudity and jokes at your expense.
Gus
Nice strawman! He was about my third choice among Democratic contenders. It’s not about getting the perfect candidate. The last candidate I could have supported without reservation was maybe FDR. He’s the best choice available. Jesus Christ, is that so hard to understand?
LanceThruster
They (HRC & Co) can have my campaign donations when they pry it out of my cold dead hands!
(You don’t think they’d actually go that far, do you?)
GuyFromOhio
oh well. time heals all wounds.
True, but the stupid self-inflicted ones take longer, and usually hurt more.
Like the rabid fascists, those that choose to dig dirt and fling poo rather than Accept What Fate Hath Wrought are forever 404, unreachable. There is nothing on this planet in this life that will change that, and I’ve quit trying to understand the forces at work. Zifnab nailed it – both candidates walk out winners, and it is other peoples’ money.
Now if McSame would just kick himself to the curb once and for all, we can get started fixing all the broken shit that actually matters.
ThymeZone
As I said before, the Obama donors are being asked to pay twice for Hillary’s buttheadedness. Once, to counter her expenditures during the campaign, and then again, a second time, to help her retire the debt she incurred.
I don’t feel under any obligation to help her. But I am going to be a team player and let the coaches decide what plays we will run. Unlike most of the BJ peanut gallery, I don’t think you can be on a team and be bashing the team every time the coaches make a decision you don’t like.
Whatever gets us to the morning after election day and the GOP in ruins and Mister Magoo in ignominious defeat, I will support it.
62-38 or bust. That beats Goldwater’s record for failure at this level of politics. That’s what I want.
Just Some Fuckhead
HRC can’t get 56 cents each from her 18 million supporters? No wonder she couldn’t win. What a pile of entitled cheapskates.
Dreggas
Will Clintonia ever get it through their heads that many people-for many reasons-found their candidate to be seriously deficient?
Nope…
John Cole
I really don’t get it. Jeralynn was such a reasonable person for so long, I just don’t understand why she has snapped when it comes to Obama. She is like me with Bush when she discusses him.
Zifnab
That’s why Obama asked of his donors graciously, rather than ramming a decree down their throats. I don’t feel any obligation to help Hillary retire her debt, either. That said, I don’t object to Obama asking me to help. He’ll ask, I’ll say no. No hurt feelings.
As for “bashing the coach of your own team”, with politics we’re really more fans than players. I don’t have any delusions of my own political power. On the flip side, I don’t have any reservations about calling out my Congressman or my Senator or my Presidential Nominee when his stance on – say, FISA – pisses me off. When the coach is ordering players that get the QB sacked, and then he gives a press conference about how many yards we’ve gained, I feel no compunction about laying into him.
moe21885
I just was banned over there for dissenting on the post you quoted. It’s very humorous to me that a civil rights lawyer regularly deletes comments she doesn’t like and bans posters who call her out on inconsistencies in her arguments.
Svensker
LOLz
And I so proud — just had my first post deleted at No Quarter! (It concerned the discussion about whether the fact that Obama’s mom flew from Hawaii to Seattle in 1968 proved that baby Barack was not born in the U.S. Not kidding.)
Incertus
She still is on a lot of things–just not this. And she’s not the only one. I find myself being very careful about what I write on certain sites as a result.
LarryB
John,
Ok, maybe I overreacted. Sorry. I’m just so tired of the picking over of grievances leftover from the primary. It still seems to me that it was a pretty clean fight overall, especially given it’s potential — what with a black guy and a woman in the race — to get really, really ugly. It didn’t.
Fern
All of mine were deleted (okay, three, but I got the point) – and I am a pretty mild-mannered poster.
Their tolerance for dissent is astonishingly low.
ThymeZone
Uh, no. We are volunteers, we are contributors, and we are voters.
I think the “fan” analogy is about as inapt as it could possibly be.
When they started me putting in yard signs at age 7 they convinced me that we were more than spectators. I think politics at campaign time is all about teamwork and discipline, it’s not about sitting on your couch and eating popcorn.
Sorry, no sale.
binzinerator
It is the largest presidential campaign debt accrued by anyone, evah.
And I am absolutely certain Hillary took her usual ‘double down, apres moi le deluge’ approach. If she won, she counted on an increasing number of donors behind her to cover it, so no problem. If she lost, she counted on Obama eating it, weakening his own campaign. Win-win. She had no reason to run a campaign on a budget.
Fuck no, you know better than that. The former hillary supporters who don’t need this kind of stroke (most of them, I believe) are already behind Obama. So “former hillary supporters” is correct, they can move on.
The rest of ’em are still hillary supporters, nothing much ‘former’ about them. These people have that huge sense of entitlement and victimhood, so this effort by Obama generates no goodwill. See, these hillary supporters will think they deserve it, they’ve earned it, and because it’s only a token of what’s due them, it’s almost insulting. Goodwill would be if you think it’s a gift. No goodwill if you think what you’re going to get is your due, especially if you believe the tribute rendered is insufficiently commensurate with hillary’s greatness.
***
Oops. I followed the talkleft link just now. I see I had it nailed.
ThymeZone
Speaking of teamwork …..
I have always considered these guys one of the greatest teams of all time … in any sport.
Does this change anything?
Discuss.
kate r
Okay, that made me laugh a lot. Snark worthy of TZ or JSFH.
ThymeZone
Top billing! I love this job.
Well, except for the pay scale …..
Notorious P.A.T.
Huh?
Hillary had to spend so much money because Obama raised so much money? Is that why she paid Mark Penn 20 times what Obama paid his top advisor?
Yeah, he was never on the Wal-Mart board of directors, has only 4 years in the Senat compared to Clinton’s overwhelming 8, he never had to dodge sniper fire in Bosnia,etc. It’s a wonder he’s still in the race.
And no, I will not be donating money to help pay down Hillary’s debt.
David Hunt
If Obama named Clinton as his running-mate, could he they have simply consolidated the campaigns (and her debt) together in a bundle? Wouldn’t it be unnecessary to encourage his supporters to pay her debt in that scenario? I’d be very interested in hearing from someone who actually knows something about these matters, because it looks to me like this is a sign that he is not going to name her as his VP choice. I can actually see her supporters being disappointed about that. The full-on crazy Hillary-Or-Nobody attitude, not so much, but I could understand disappointment.
LarryB
Duh, yes? Politics 101.
Hey, I never said she spent it wisely. She did lose, after all.
Jay C
Maybe the intended target for Obama’s gesture of “generosity” towards the Clinton campaign debts isn’t so much Hillary’s supporters, but Hillary (and Bill) Clinton [them]selves?
Probably a huge majority of Hillary voters in the primaries were/are going to go Dem in the general election anyway; the diehard Hillbots a la No Quarter, etc. may or may not stay home/vote McCain: but are going to end up as a bitter, impotent fringe anyway: so there’s little to gain by the Obama organization’s payoff – at least as far as garnering votes are concerned.
But ISTM that this $10M “request” – irksome, blatant bribe though it may be ($10M can buy a heap of ad time) – may pay off handsomely in the long run. Having Sen. Clinton (not to mention the Big Dog hisself) stumping wholeheartedly for the Obama-Whoever ticket in the Fall is a far better prospect for the Democrats than having a top Party draw like the Billary Show campaigning tepidly, or sitting the election out, pissed about debt loads.
And $10,000,000 can also buy a lot of wholeheartedness…
Joe Beese
Brother, can you spare a pantsuit?
Svensker
Speaking of money, can someone please pay me not to go read the Hawaii Birth Certificate stuff over at No Quarter? I can’t stay away, and my brain is starting to melt. The wackiness is so fully wacky that it is starting to sound almost reasonable. Aaarrrgghh.
John S.
This is the most factually based comment myiq has made here in months.
Congratulations, bro.
cleek
his comments on pie are generally 100% correct, as well – it really is that good!
Just Some Fuckhead
*blush*
(I’ll be working on myspace fan site if you need me.)
Gus
It’s no longer fun for me, since my comments don’t even show. I can’t make fun of the freaks.
Harley
Nice to see Jeralyn is still censoring comments that are, uhm, too mean to Senator Clinton. And then there’s the ‘that poster has been vaporized’ glee. God what a thinwit.
Brachiator
The problem is that the looniest Clinton supporters keep removing the bandages, cutting themselves again, and then blaming Obama for their inability to heal.
While Hillary has promised to enthusiastically work hard for Obama’s election, Bill has been at best lukewarm towards Obama, and appears to be holding a grudge because Obama wasn’t sufficiently worshipful of Bill’s accomplishments as president. As Andrew Sullivan posted recently,
It’s almost as though Bill thought that he was playing the Wii presidential campaign game against Obama, and Hillary was Bill’s online avatar.
Bill’s attitudes, and the possibility that he would be a divisive influence, seriously works against any consideration of Hillary as a VP choice.
Yeah, but this is kinda like paying alimony to a woman you only dated.
Barbara
I am going to write a check to Hillary just to be able to say I did so when I meet the Jeralyns of the world. But in truth, the DNC and some down ticket, non-blue dog Dems need it a whole lot more. I realize that many nominees try to help the other candidates in this way, but it’s just so unseemly for these people to be so fixated on the well-being of ONE very wealthy person, especially when she and her hubby just finished trashing and slashing the very person they expect to help.
I sort of wonder whether there’s a guilt factor — a lot of these donors probably egged Hillary on to stay in the race. Anyway, that’s my working assumption.
LarryB
It can also buy a whole lot of Clinton time otherwise spent fundraising to retire the debt. Opinions obviously differ whether this would be worth it to the Obama campaign, but that’s the reality, and it has nothing to do with feelings.
ThymeZone
Hmm, not a bad idea. I think I will to.
For one dollar.
Andrew
DO NOT DONATE TO HILLARY UNLESS YOU’VE REACHED YOUR PRIMARY AND GENERAL CAPS FOR OBAMA.
I felt that it had to be said once again. The big dollar donors who have already maxed out can help hillary retire her debt.
Wilfred
Time wounds all heels. The dead-enders will get theirs, eventually.
Gus
I read some of the comments at the linked TalkLeft thread. Goddamn those people are touchy! A self-proclaimed Obot says in a conciliatory way that he’s glad Hillary is supporting Obama, and gets absolutely jumped on. “Of course Hillary is supporting the Democratic candidate. She said she would, didn’t you believe her?”
Neal
Uhh, no, actually.
I won’t be sending any money her way. She’s done a decent job playing nice since the cage match ended and I can give her a “I ain’t mad ‘atcha” but that’s about all.
Media Browski
I *was* running an on-line fundraiser for the Clintons, but Jeralyn just made me want to kick Socks the Cat. Frakking Clintonistas.
Jason Eckelman
I am so fucking sick of these people. It’s an endless circlejerk of acrimony and bitterness at this point. Talking to them (particularly the lunatics at TalkLeft) is like trying to reason with a drunk. I really hope Obama does bring a lot of fresh blood to the process, because I don’t ever want to have to talk to these Clintonist shit heads again. Jesus.
Jay C
@ Brachiator:
Yeah, I saw that bit about Bill Clinton’s sulking on Sullivan’s blog (and elsewhere) – and all I could think of was that this is a sort of political karmic payback: for the way the Clintonistas dealt with Jimmy Carter when they were in office. All smiles and Hooray For Party Unity up until the election; then afterwards Carter couldn’t get the time of day out of them. Now old Jimmeh was (and is) certainly a self-important PITA; but except on the lecture circuit, the value of Elder Statesmen has been severely depreciated of late, and I think Bill C. can’t help but think of Carter’s political fate when contemplating the electoral future; which is why I think he will (like Hillary) eventually get out and stump for the Blue team: an Obama Administration may not be the rosy prospect the Clintons were looking for: but an Obama Adminstration where they have zippo influence or favors due is a worse prospect yet.
My guess is that everyone will have paid up and made up by convention time.
lou
The only reason I’d chip in to pay off Clinton’s debt is to help the poor vendors in Iowa/Ohio/Pennsylvania who haven’t been paid. That’s unfair to them.
But I’ll only contribute if I have a guarantee that it won’t go to Penn or Wolfson.
rreay
Svensker Says:
It’s incredible. Did you get to part where mimi asks if Obama is circumcised?
Batocchio
Good grief. Well, I’m glad Hillary is taking care of her own loans. I can’t imagine many people eager to pay Mark Penn’s outstanding bill of about 5 million, and I don’t know if Hillary considers that part of her portion or not.
As for TalkLeft – as Incertus noted, “some” was the reporter’s characterization, and appropriate given that Hillary was also playing “some.” While Jeralyn muses about it, to parse it so uncharitably is pretty lame – as was another pro-Hillary blogger taking Jake Tapper’s third-hand, headline-seeking gossip about a private conversation between Obama and former Clinton supporters as proof that Obama was still out of touch. Helping retire this amount of debt is unprecedented. Hillary Clinton chose to run up that debt chasing an extremely long shot, and delivering some low blows along the way. Of course there’s legitimate criticism of Obama, too, but the crowd that’s still Clinton-or-Death aren’t very fond of that type.
John in Chicago
I can’t believe Jeralyn et al are up in arms over the REPORTERS use of the word “some”.
I hope Jeralyn and those that are likeminded weren’t then ones running around Hillary’s rallies wearing those silly “I’m not bitter” stickers, cuz it sure doesn’t apply…
Phoebe
How do we know she won’t pay herself back first?
Also, if an unpaid Iwoa vendor sues, can he sue her personally? Is the campaign like a corporation, where if it goes bankrupt you can only sue the people at the top if they breached the duty of care or embezzled? I’d say spending money and incurring more debt when it was obvious you weren’t going to win breached the duty of care.
What has to happen before she personally can get sued, or does the unpaid Iowa vendor just have to eat it?
Jeff
Now old Jimmeh was (and is) certainly a self-important PITA.
Fixt! We need more PITAs like ole’ Jimmeh!
ThymeZone
How much of it is just ratfuckers and spoofs?
mrmobi
Actually, Incertus, it doesn’t seem to matter whether you are careful over there. I guess I’ve been banned, and all I suggested was that No Quarter should be taken off their blogroll, since it’s a hate site now.
What I should have said, is that they are ratfuckers at No Quarter, and having them on your blogroll is insulting to anyone with the ability to think.
When I’m reading comments at Talk Left, I get the feeling I know what living in East Germany must have been like, you know? Feels like the Stasi are watching. Creepy.
priscianus jr
I wish folks wouldn’t trash Maureen Dowd TODAY. I don’t know what came over her, but she actually wrote a decent column.
wobbly
It’s more than a gracious gesture, it’s stuff the candidates have been orchestrating for weeks.
The candidates are much smarter than their supporters. And richer.
And less emotionally involved with their own campaigns than their supporters are.
Couple of cool-headed machine pols divvying up the spoils.
I like this.
(I’m a certified machinist, so I have a certain affection for well-tooled machines.)
Notorious P.A.T.
Can’t have it both ways. Either she’s in debt because she spent her money foolishly or not.
t jasper parnell
Totally OT, but a humorous take on Obama by an Obama supporter.
Phoebe
Ok this answers my questions completely:
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/06/25/choose-your-own-debtventure.aspx
DonnaInMichigan
Whats next?
Will we be requested to help start a defense fund for Hillary, come November, when the lawsuit (Paul VS Clinton) gets going?
Do these people EVER pay any of their own debts??
Obama Is The Devil
Barack Hussei nObama = 6 6 6 . Obama’s real name is Mabus. Obama is a muslim. His father and step-father are muslim, no matter what he says in the eyes of all muslims that makes him one. The muslims around the world support him, praise his name. They burn American flags and burn Bibles daily, screaming Death To America, but yet wouldn’t be able to handle and cry about it if they saw me doing the same thing to their flags or Koran. They can’t even handle a cartoon drawing, when I watch Jesus on South Park boxing Satan. lol anyway. This is a holy war. They are the enemies of Israel and that makes them the enemies of God. This war is a necessary war that must be fought in the name of God. The muslims around the world are waging this war with the Christians. They are set in their plans to destroy the West and Israel, to have Islam the world religion. Nostradamus talks of Obama. Obama is a muslim of middle-eastern background, ‘The Black One’, Mabus. He is the charming, charismatic, mesmerizing speaker that the devil is. The Bible talks of the anti-christ, Obama fulfills these prophecies. 3.5 years into Obama’s rule, around election 2012 we will see his true self and intentions. 2012 the Chinese year of the dragon in which divine happenings occur on earth. Dec 21 2012 when the sun rises into the center of our Milky Way galaxy and into the 13th zodiac of a man wrestling a snake, symbolizing a time of struggle with evil. Dec. 21 2012 the earth completes a precession on it’s axis, causing shifting of poles and magnetic fields. The Mayans predicted a completion of a cycle and a new cycle of change begins. The four horsemen are riding right now. Watch the news, you ain’t heard? Natural Disasters, World Hunger, Oil Crisis, on top of a Holy War. Obama’s plans and ideas for change are unrealistic and are just lies to brainwash the people to follow and believe in him. ‘Change We Can Believe In’, he wants people to ‘believe’ in him. Obama is the devil. The American people are blind to the obvious and are persuaded and subliminally influenced by his image and the medias portrayal of him. Obama is going to be America’s next president then soon after proclaim himself a world leader, to be worshiped and embraced as a god, It has been written. These are the end times. Obama is the devil. One Nation Under God, Not Allah!