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Hillary Campaign In The Red

An interesting statistic from Hillary Clinton's latest fundraising numbers: With $10.3 million in debts and only about $9 million on hand for the primaries, on paper the campaign is in the red.

One thing to remember, however, is that a campaign is usually able to let debts linger for a while. Thus the campaign is far from broke in practice -- though she is nevertheless far behind Obama in the money game.

A key number: Out of that total debt, $4.6 million is owed to Mark Penn's firm.


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She's basically stiffing small business vendors in order to keep paying for media buys.

Penn ought to let it go, and add a few million more.
He did her more damage than good.

Does that also count the $5 million she loaned herself? If not, then she's even more in the red.

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No, it does not count the $5 million. She owed $10.3 million to others and $5 million to herself, and she only had $8 million on hand. Net: $-7.3 million. Accountants use red ink for numbers like that, not as a technicality but as a financial reality that her creditors and donors ought to know about.

For as awful a job Mark Penn did, Hillary should be able to sue.

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Mark Penn. The gift that keeps on giving. She should have dumped him, completely.

That line from the Times piece on her, in March, keeps running through my brain. She values loyalty more than competence. It's a shame.

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Ok, here's thing kids - if y'all don't think the SDs are paying attention to this? Obama has about $51 million dollars in his war chest.

She's broke.

Who's the winner here?

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EXACTLY. Her arguments to Super Delegates about her better ability to wage a campaign and win just seems silly when you see how her campaign has been managed compared to his.

Why would the Democrats want to turn off the spigot to all that money and organization?

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I'm just worried that Obama has had to spend so much money in PA fighting her off, when that money could have been saved for the general.

Actually "pissed" is a better word then "worried" here.

Yeah, but she lets bills linger a lot longer than just a little while, small businesses have been considering taking her to collection agencies to get their money. The campaign won't even return their phone calls:

http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/2008/04/hillarys-unpaid-bills-stack-up-some.html

what great skills in management!

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Well, red is a good color for Hillary.

Where is Idiotic to tell us what we all know?

If Hillary drops out, I will donate money to get her out of debt.

It wouldn't take many of Obama's supporters before she was paid off.

Everybody wins.

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Billsumday,

No, Clinton made sure to pay herself back.

It is only flesh and blood U.S. Citizens that she wants to screw over.

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Actually, she hasn't paid herself back. She's just listed the loan on a separate page from the other debts.

Schedule C filed late last night says that for the period ending March 31, she has:

Original Amount of Loan = 5000000.00
Amount Paid To Date = 0.00
Loan Balance = 5000000.00

REDy on Day One.

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Good 'un, SCMadden. REDy on Day One.

This is why Obama's strategy of spending big in PA, even though he knew he would probably not carry the state, is genius.

She is going to try and keep up and put on commercials and send out mailers and do robo-calls...drying up her funds quickly, leaving her pretty much penniless for the remaining primaries.

Smart move.

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Yes indeed. And this will be the same strategy in the general election. Make John McCain chase Obama all over the country, spending money where he normally wouldn't have had to.

Smart move from a smart campaign.

This is the part to which I am sooo looking forward. I will happily contribute to the campaign coffers for ads in TX and LA and GA - not because I necessarily expect that we will win in those states, but because McCain will know that he could lose in those states, and will thus have to direct (very) precious and scarce resources out of real battleground states like FL and OH in order to keep from losing important chunks of electoral votes that the Republicans traditionally have locked up solid. It will be worth it simply to wipe the look off of Karl Rove's sneering little mug.

That sneer is permanent...

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Fuck paying Hillary-Joe back!

She gambled with the money she was given just like the people who gave it to her gambled.

I have no intertest in making billionaires whole on a losing investment.

Far from broke in practice?

How long until businesses require payment before services rendered? With $10 million in debt, somebody is going to get screwed and you can bet it won't be Mark Penn. Any small business that doesn't require money up front is asking for trouble.

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Are you saying small businesses are going to stop trusting Hillary? Shocking!

Actually, what I'm wondering, is how long until 3 vendors get together and try to force her into bankruptcy.

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Didn't UC Davis file a suit against the campaign to get paid? Or did they just threaten to?

They threaten to if they didn't get paid soon.

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Thanks.

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It's sort of odd to avoid the obvious caveats here. First, the tense is wrong; this is a number for the end of March and the game's changed substantially since then in a number of ways. Hillary back-loaded her spring numbers in April with the Elton John concert; Obama's outspent Hillary massively in April both in the advertising difference that's reported all the time and, likely, the even bigger disparity in operations costs due to Obama opening offices in every remaining state and even Guam and putting on tons of huge events. He's also undoubted raised a lot more than Hill in April, but reporting that Clinton's "In the red" (even though it's probably still true) and Obama's got $51M in the bank (undoubtedly not true for primary bucks right now) based on March reporting is a little silly.

Obama's still raising tons of money and Hillary's basically tapped everyone she can get. That's the story here going forward. Obama will probably end up helping retire Hillary's debt within a month or two anyway.

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Obama will probably end up helping retire Hillary's debt within a month or two anyway.

Not until after the election, please. I don't want my donations going to help Hillary-Joe pay off what she shouldn't have spent in the first place.

I donated the money to get him elected and that's what I want to see the money used for first.

What she said.

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Ditto.

Me three.

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Obama's not retarded. He knows the Clintons, even after all of this, are still better friends than enemies; ditto the DLC. Having them sit out the fall cycle just to prove their point isn't worth saving a few million in water-under-the-bridge bucks.

"Not until after the election, please. I don't want my donations going to help Hillary-Joe pay off what she shouldn't have spent in the first place."

You don't have to worry about that: he couldn't do that - it would be illegal. For Barack to help her, he'd have to raise money from his supporters specifically for that purpose.

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This is what will end it, sooner rather than later. Clinton cannot match Obama for fundraising. The supers know this, and they will follow the money.

Man, this news makes me happy! Obama's fundraising represents the new. Sure, he's got some traditional Democratic sources of support, but so much of it is new money for the party, coming from people who have never been politically involved before.

Clinton's fundraising represents the old machine, and it's broken down, worn out and dried up.

Hillary may well win her battle tomorrow, but she's already lost the war.

Barack Obama's new paradigm in fundraising is consistent with his persona as a transformative figure. It is one part Clinton and one Dean.

"The CEO and the WORKING CLASS & YOUTH"

This a rework of the master/slave paradigm which has traditionally benefited a Republican approach to fundraising and governing. A top-down approach with financial Elite funding and writing legislation while building support through a conservative cultural message to middle America.

With the massive wealth creation potential of corporate America, a faction of the Democratic Party were no longer willing to seed this advantage to the Republicans and formed the DLC. Of-course this created a conflict with the traditional Democratic base as it shifted the party platform on economic and social policies. Hillary comes out of this top-down approach to fundraising and governing.

Barack Obama on the other hand, has found a way to marry the grass-roots approach of Howard Dean, with the use of the internet, to the top-down approach of the Clintons. He could not sustain his high fundraising numbers without appealing and mobilizing both the CEO and the Working Class & Youth. In this paradigm the CEO and the Working Class & Youth identify with their shared interests as opposed to their position on a divisive political landscape. Obama has acknowledged to the Working Class & Youth that with their contributions they have a voice in his White House. And the CEO has access to a new market.

I agree with those who say that the financial realities will likely be a big factor in the minds of the sincerely undecided supers. I do not pretend to know any of these people personally, but I do not know anyone who is indifferent to the realities of cash on hand.

That said, I am not convinced by the line which holds that financial woes will soon drive Sen Clinton to concede. She has been broke for two months now. If she has not yet conceded on account of lack of funds, I cannot see why we should suddenly expect her to do so now or in a week from now or even in a month from now.

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On May 6, it will be obvious that Obama will win a final, settled majority of pledged delegates on May 20. There will be no chance of Clinton winning pledged, and no chance of superdelegates swinging her way.

On May 7, Rendell, Schumer, Rangel, and Emmanuel tell her privately to be out by May 10 or they'll denounce and reject her candidacy in the interest of the party.

On May 8, she'll get out.

That I could believe. I could believe that concerned supporters in her own ranks could persuade her to suspend her campaign. My only point is that this will not be based on financial considerations. I just do not believe that money is even an issue in her mind or the minds of her close advisors.

Add to that:
Howard Wolfson makes for $200,000 per month for spinning her bullcrap.
That's a real blue collar type of campaign there.

I find it hard to believe that these numbers aren't (or shouldn't be) a game-ender for Hillary. Her campaign continues to hoodwink the media/pundits (Todd: "numbers are irrelevant") but the reality is, unless there's been a huge groundswell of small online donors (which we'd have heard about and would really need to see actual evidence not just claims about), she's toast. It may take a few days to sink in, but she cannot continue a viable national campaign. Don't TV stations require cash up front for ads?

I'm puzzled about her appearance on Olbermann's show tonight? Surely Keith won't enable her disgusting behavior?

The vendors who did work for the Clinton campaign will be left holding the bag

Bill Clinton's old campaign still owes -$319,630 !!!

http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/cancomsrs/?_08+P20000642

Sen Hillary Clinton:

The campaign's biggest debt remains to be the $5,000,000 loaned to the campaign by Senator Clinton

The campaign, to date, owes Senator Clinton $10,879.89 in interest on the $5,000,000 loan (at a rate of 1.26%)

The Campaign's second largest debt is to Penn, Schoen & Berland Assoc. LLC
Amount: $4,577,820.61

Harold Ickes firm, Catalist, LLC, is owed $240,000. The firm provided no billable services nor did it receive payments during the month of March 08.

Top to-date Press Reimbursement comes from CBS News for a total of $112,016.27 on behalf of Fernando Suarez. Fox News' Aaron Burns is second with $107,173.41 and ABC's Eloise Harper is third with $98,948.05

Total Salaries paid: $1,589,226

Patricia Solis Doyle got paid $11,687 in March 08

Total Employee Benefits paid: $489,980.64
(Paid to Aetna Healthcare, and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield)

$138,182 in advertising with Google. $2054 with Microsoft!

Phone Banking: $1,921,124
Mail Expense: $1,588,837
Polling: $1,348,000
Media: $885,434

New York Post subscription: $40.8
New York Times subscription: $25.6

Travel: $5,102,905

Debt too vendors
http://query.nictusa.com/pres/2008/M3/C00431569/D_DEBTS_C00431569.html

thanks to lizardbox for the preliminary breakdown

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