Hillary Funds Own Campaign, With $5 Million Loan

Posted by Pam Spaulding, Pam's House Blend at 11:14 AM on February 7, 2008.

Barack Obama raised $32 million in January, besting by far the $13.5 million that Hillary Clinton took in. The money isn't flowing into the coffers of the Clinton campaign fast enough to keep the enormous operation afloat, as apparently no one in Camp Hillary expected to need this much dough since Obama was supposed to be toast by now.

He's not only still in the race, but he's raising money at an astonishing clip. [What's really astonishing is how much money is needed to run a campaign of this scope. It's obscene.]

Anyway, today it was announced that Senator Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million of personal funds last month. (MSNBC):

Said communications director Howard Wolfson in an email to NBC News: "Late last month Senator Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million. The loan illustrates Sen. Clinton's commitment to this effort and to ensuring that our campaign has the resources it needs to compete and win across this nation. We have had one of our best fundraising efforts ever on the Web today and our Super Tuesday victories will only help in bringing more support for her candidacy."

One of the major problems that has been raised by the MSM early on is that Clinton tapped large $ donors first; all have now maxed out on the allowable contribution and she cannot go back to that list. Obama has raised a boatload from small donors who can be tapped over and over to keep his operation competitive - and now he's ahead of the game. His latest victories almost certainly opened new, previously untapped wallets.

In any case, Clinton, in a news conference today, did some clumsy spinning about her loan to the campaign.

"I loaned the campaign $5 million from my money. That's where I got the money. I loaned it because I believe very strongly in this campaign. We had a great month fundraising in January, broke all records, but my opponent was able to raise more money. And we intended to be competitive, and we were. And I think the results last night proved the wisdom of my investment."

I always wonder why politicians even bother with BS like this; it only adds to the impression we have that they think we're stupid. You wouldn't need to loan your campaign any cash unless you're cash-strapped. On CNN just now (6:40), they were discussing the fact that high-level members of the campaign have volunteered to forego paychecks this month.

Sound familiar? Rudy Giuliani dealt just as poorly with this scenario in the waning days of his campaign, declaring the staff pay cuts were voluntary and they were showing their loyalty and belief in the former NY mayor's campaign. We know how that ended up. Can't they just be straight up with folks?

UPDATE: ABC News reports that Clinton campaign staffers will continue to be paid.

Tagged as: clinton, obama, campaign finance, giuliani, campaign fundraising

Pam Spaulding blogs at Pam's House Blend.