ABOUT FIRST READ

First Read is an analysis of the day's political news, from the NBC News political unit. First Read is updated throughout the day, so check back often.

Chuck Todd, NBC Political Director

Mark Murray, NBC Deputy Political Director

Domenico Montanaro, NBC Political Researcher



Clinton: Retiring the debt

Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 9:16 AM by Mark Murray

The New York Times looks at Clinton's attempt to pay down her debt, and in the process calls it the largest debt in presidential campaign history. "Clinton’s options for retiring her debt are limited. On the positive side, she has raised about $1 million online and by mail since polls closed in Montana and South Dakota last Tuesday to end the primary season, her campaign said. The continued flow of donations, even after Senator Barack Obama had crossed the threshold of delegates he needed to claim the nomination, may indicate that some of Mrs. Clinton’s supporters may be devoted enough to pitch in to help with her debt."

VIDEO: In the Hardball Big Number, Chris Matthews takes a look at the $109,823 Sen. Hillary Clinton spent on each delegate she won.

More: "There is technically no deadline for Mrs. Clinton to pay back her creditors, but because of a clause in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance measure that was intended to limit the ability of candidates to self-finance campaigns, she has until  the convention in August to pay herself back. After that, the most she could recover is $250,000. Mrs. Clinton could also whittle down her debt by re-negotiating what she owes with her various creditors, but the Federal Election Commission would have to sign off to ensure that a good-faith effort was made to pay off the debt. It also must be satisfied that the renegotiated bills do not amount to an in-kind donation from a corporation to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign."

MAIN PAGE

Email this EMAIL THIS

Comments

NOW, Clinton "feels our pain" Like the rest of us hard-working Americans of every color of the rainbow, she has more debt than she can pay.  Welcome to OUR world, Senator!
$1 million is a very long way from about 25-30 million!!  I am sure Bill is upset about this.  She knew that she was going to lose over a month ago !  


** For discounts on Barack Obama products $8.99 & Up. Use this coupon at this Obama Store http://www.MyObamaStore.com
Coupon - Obama-X2Y9-10 (10% OFF)
The Clinton's are worth over $100 million bucks.  It was her campaign, let her clean it up.  Bill better get back on the road and make some boring speeches and help retire the debt, since it was his big mouth that got his wife in trouble and cost her the election.
You know I really don't feel sorry for her. She knew what she was doing and that it was a long shot. When you are in a hole you should stop digging. Now she expects people to bail her out. Well I say she and Bill have plenty of money and they don't need the middle blue collar and women to pay her bills. They can bareley pay their own. I don't see Clinton's offering to pay theirs. She made her debt and she needs to pay it herself. Just my thoughts!
Astounding what a poor campaign Clinton ran.  Most troubling is what it actually adds up to in order to elect a political leader.  Billions when all will be told in November.  And the end result?  Well, look what we got last time.  Talk about buyers remorse.  Would we do a lot worse drawing a name out of a hat?!
Do we know what the debt is...I read on another site this morning (a reputable one) that it could be 40 million (but I haven't had a chance to independently check it out yet).
Just like the Clintons!  

They've always expected others to clean up
the messes they leave behind, while they
continue on creating new ones.

For once, let them clean up their own mess.

We're done with them!
Isn't it interesting that the "little guy" has no time frame for being paid by the Clinton campaign, but she has to pay herself back by August? There's something fundamentally wrong with THAT concept when the Clinton's made over $109 MILLION dollars last year and the poor schmucks actually WORKING for a living are getting stuck with her debt. Oh yeah, I forget, she was "working" for these very same people that she's now screwing out of money. Yeah, right. She should prove it by paying these people.
I have great respect for Senator Clinton for the speech she gave on Saturday.

However, I cannot feel sorry that she is in debt, given that she knowingly, spent beyond the point of no return, (pun intended).

She went over the falls, with her eyes wide open, as countless others warned, and warned her to suspend her campaign, and avoid the financial mess she is in.  

Her debt was incurred in a frivolous fashion, and should not be passed along to poeple who are struggling to buy gas, and groceries.
So sad she had to waste all that money losing.  Just more to make up that will hurt us Democrats in the fall.  This was why she should have dropped out 3 months ago.

Go Obama 08/12!
You have not posted one of my comments for over 2 months, what’s wrong don't like to hear the truth?  I think it is unfair But MSNBC is unfair so it makes perfect sense

Keep it up.  Mark my words, as I have always said, Obama will not, get to the Whitehouse without US. All 18 million of us that support and love Hillary Clinton. Keep on digging the hole.  
As a supporter of Senator Obama's from the beginning, I would gladly donate to assist Senator Clinton's campaign debt.

One condition...Mark Penn gets none of my money!
I really fail to see why so may think that this woman would make a good leader. Her healthcare plan in the 90's was unsuccessful and her camapaign was obviously poorly run. I have also heard that many New Yorkers, though I am sure that she has some satisfied customers, are unhappy with her role as the State senator. She is just bossy and strident! Please, Barack, no Billary!!!
That incredible debt is yet another result of her inability to realize that she had lost. In poker we call that "throwing good money after bad."

But wow, she made history in all the ways she didn't want to: 1) largest campaign debt, and 2) highest unfavorable ratings of any presidential candidate.
I have no sympathy.  I feel strongly that she should have suspended her campaign when the numbers showed that there was no viable way for her to win. But no, she had to incur more debt and bloody up Senator Obama more.  She is largely responsible for the party being so divided.  She did not need to go so negative.  Let the Clinton supporters that are having their temper tantrums and are now going to vote for McCain send her some money.  I'll not send a dime, and will continue to donate directly to Senator Obama's campaign.

Enough of Clinton, on to the general.

Older Women for Obama, 08
Very old saying:  "You made your bed...now you lie in it!"
THE CLINTONS HAVE $109 MILLION AND ARE NOT HURTING!NOT ONE PENNY OF THAT $109 MILLION WILL BE USED TO DOWN THAT $30 MILLION DEBT -- THEY WILL FIND A WAY TO USE OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY -- THAT IS THE CLINTON GREED!!
Why is the media not considering that a substantial amount of Senator Clintons 18 million voters were republicans. Republicans who did not need to vote for a republican. The republicans had their nominee chose long ago. The republicans want Senator Clinton on the ticket. You can bet the farm that from the day the Clintons walked out of the White House the republicans have kept very close tabs on the Clintons, and they have a diary of their EVERY move. They feel with a Clinton on the ticket they will have a slame dunck win. Probably within weeks of Senator Clinton making the ticket. All those 18 million are not sending her money because so many of them are republicans.
I'm and independent and I wouldn't mind donating to help Clinton with her debt. I just hope that Obama does not put her on the ticket.
And 17million voters wanted to put her in charge of the national budget?? It was her decision to stay in the race when it was obvious that she could not overtake Obama's lead in the pledged delegates.  Sure she won states after that - but as predicted, she could not overtake his lead in the pledged delegates.  This was a choice she knew and she made.  She was spending money she did not have unless she used her own funds.  She started the campaign with a war chest unlike any other and must not have spent it wisely.

All I heard about was how Obama was outspending her 3:1 to 5:1... well, he did not raise 3X the funds.  So somehow he must have been spending his funds wiser than she was because he still has funds to spend and she is in the hole.  

I don't feel sorry for her either.  The Clintons are worth millions - MILLIONS - let them pay the debt they chose to create.  I sure hope she doesn't go and stiff the vendors she owes.  If she wants to stiff Mark Penn - go for it.  But the vendors deserve to be paid.  This persona of poor Hillary, champion of the common person was an act.  Get it.  She is not like us.  She is a multi-multi-millionaire.  

I have contributed to Obama's campaign and will continue to do so.  I suggest that Hillary's supporters who encouraged her to stay in the race start coughing up some cash if they want to bail her out.

Obama clearly has shown his leadership in running a great campaign.  I don't think he has been given enough credit for this.  If nothing else, he demonstrated a superior ability to use his resources wisely.  It gives me a lot of confidence in his ability to run an efficient government.

Obama 08/12
McCain/Feingold! Note the name of the bill Democrats! That happens when you work to pass landmark legislation that has a profound effect on the county. Still waiting for Obama's name to appear on something important.


SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

TRACKBACKS

Trackbacks are links to weblogs that reference this post. Like comments, trackbacks do not appear until approved by us. The trackback URL for this post is: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/trackback.aspx?PostID=1127344

First Read e-mail alerts


Sign up for First Read alerts
The first place for key political news and analysis

Syndicate This Site

Add First Read to your news reader:
live.com xml
myyahoo msn
bloglines newsgator
google