Obama Donates To Hillary's Debt Relief
Barack Obama has taken a major symbolic step towards party unity: In his efforts to help repay Hillary Clinton's debts, he and Michelle have personally donated the maximum $4,600 to Hillary's defunct campaign.
The announcement was made at a joint event with Clinton before a group of her donors in Washington, and was met with applause from the formerly Hillary-backing audience.
Terry McAuliffe proudly showed two checks -- one from the Obama, another from $4,600 from Obama finance chair Penny Pritzker and her husband -- to reporters gathered outside the event.
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June 26, 2008 11:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously, I don't understand all this hate for Terry McAuliffe. The man is a fucking laugh riot. He obviously doesn't take himself seriously, and I'm not sure he expects anyone else too either. He's like that poodle who follows you around everywhere peeing on everyone else's legs. How do you not love that?
June 27, 2008 6:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
I resemble that remark!
June 27, 2008 10:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if this money is going to the Clinton personal fund or the vendors and services fund.
June 26, 2008 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
You freaking idiot! If you would have just clicked on the article link you would have seen that it specifically says "Clinton's debt includes $12 million of her own money. She has said she is not asking for help paying that back."
Why don't you do your homework before spouting off!
June 26, 2008 11:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Fine. You don't have to be such a dick about it.
June 26, 2008 11:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is sort of considered good form to know what is in the post one is commenting on. Getting called on it is to be expected. Don't get mad. Feel shamed.
June 27, 2008 3:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
My bad. I sould read the commenters name before commenting. It is OK to chatise youself for chastising yourself.
June 27, 2008 3:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
should be
That said, something doesn't feel right about this. It says a lot about a man who can right a check for his unwarranted destruction. Breathe. Unity. Breathe. Ahh.
June 26, 2008 11:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
and in the spirit of talking to one's self:
you idiot! "right a check" should be "write a check"!
June 26, 2008 11:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Calm down sherlock! I don't have an edit button here.
June 26, 2008 11:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
wait a minute...
why aren't bill and hillary, as democrats, contributing money to his campaign?
this is backwards.
it was a nice gesture on his part. but it also would have been a nice gesture on the clinton's part, and it would have been a show of support for the nominee.
June 26, 2008 11:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eric
Sorry to nag - it is joint event
PeachesNYC and QTip - lol. Self reprimand is sometimes good (especially at TPM with no edit tab).
June 26, 2008 11:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
God how I feel for Michelle. It must have made her teeth hurt!
June 26, 2008 11:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, I bet they had a good chuckle over it. They did win in the end, after all.
June 27, 2008 8:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Is McAuliffe unbelievably tacky and shameless?
Hey Terry, how much of a cut do you get?
Unreal.
June 26, 2008 11:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Am I missing something here ? If I were an ardent HRC supporter (which I am not), I would be pretty pleased with someone's contribution for her.
And, Michelle & Obama look good ponying up like that. Good PR. Gentle massaging of her hard-core constituency.
All around, a winner, I would say.
June 27, 2008 12:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree--it's positive PR, it makes Michelle and Barack look magnanimous, so overall it is to the good.
On the off chance that Bill and Hillary Clinton suddenly drop Obama through some sort of secret trap door and laugh evil laughs about the October Surprise as they go on to take over the world, I doubt that $4300 would have been enough to have put them over the edge.
June 27, 2008 5:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. Yes, he is. And that's what makes him so fucking awesome.
June 27, 2008 6:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
On Obama's check, the note at the bottom says:
For: Listening to Jabba the Penn
June 27, 2008 12:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
No, seriously, that's pretty cool of Obama. Go Unity!
June 27, 2008 12:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
I really enjoyed this email from NBC First Read...
Too Much Clinton-Obama Hype? Tonight, Obama huddles in DC with Hillary Clinton and some of her top fundraisers, who are expected to cut checks for the presumptive Democratic nominee. And tomorrow, of course, is the much-awaited joint rally in -- of all places -- Unity, NH. But is there a more over-hyped story than this Obama-Clinton event on Friday? Seriously, does Obama need the Clintons as much the media claims? Or does Obama need to get this Clinton situation behind simply so the press stops covering the story? Considering the bounce Obama's getting in some polls, it's clear that the unity issues in the party with Clinton and Obama are all inside the Amtrak corridor and nowhere else. Also, after reading today's New York Times piece on Clinton and Obama -- which notes that some in Hillary Land are upset that Obama hasn't written Clinton a $2,300 check, that his campaign isn't hiring more of her staff, and that uber-lawyer Bob Barnett is negotiating things like Hillary's role at the convention -- ask yourself this: Do you think Obama's folks would be able to make similar complaints/demands, without getting laughed at, had the roles been reversed? Four years ago, remember, the Kerry campaign hired very few Howard Dean people, and no one batted an eyelash. Is this just another example of how Clinton folks continue to shape the campaign narrative, thanks to their personal relationships with media members inside the Amtrak corridor?
June 27, 2008 12:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think any positive Obama coverage that drowns out McCain surrogate chatter is good. Even if the story is overly hyped, or purporting to bridge a gap that doesn't exist.
It's all about owning the days news cycles, and Obama has been doing a good job of that of late.
June 27, 2008 12:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Gee, I wonder if we'll get an inside report by Greg from the clinton camp on how many checks they have gotten. This would be huge news! Where's Greg?
I agree with the other posters also that the checks should be going the other way to defeat the republicans, not to pay for the clintons' narcissism. The clintons were done in february. If they wanted to pump their own money in too bad, they should have dropped out. You have to pay to play.
June 27, 2008 12:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
But certain vendors (TPM, for instance, not Dunkin Donuts) do help the Democratic cause all across the board.
This is a good development, especially for those of us who are tired of the McCain Ads paying for our favorite HillBlogging sites.
June 27, 2008 11:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
well isn't this the unity we have all been waiting for. http://sensico.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/mccain-versus-the-internet/
June 27, 2008 12:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Didn't you to peddle your website under another name ?
June 27, 2008 1:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
nope and this isnt my friends site
June 27, 2008 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
i mean this is my friends site--sorry
June 27, 2008 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm still waiting for her to take that damned "Hillary for President" logo off of both her Web site and her email communications.
Don't kid yourself. She and Bill are pulling every punch they possibly can.
June 27, 2008 1:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
In the interest of a unified party, I'll just leave it at that.
June 27, 2008 2:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
i know. its like they want him to apologize for winning or something.
its ridiculous.
i could say more, but like you, i'll bite my tongue.
June 27, 2008 2:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
There is plenty of chewed toung to go arround. I feel like I havent eaten anything else in days.
June 27, 2008 3:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
The good news is that all the GOP and more than 1/2 the Dems are against the Clintons.
The Clintons may well unite America -- in the same way that Richard Nixon did in 1974.
Just another in a long series of Hillary/Nixon similarities.
June 27, 2008 3:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Switch those parties around, and you'd be describing President Bush. I do wonder what would have happened this year if we'd never passed the 22nd Amendment.
Would Bush have been challenged for the GOP nomination, and if so, would it have been successful? Or would he, like Lyndon Johnson, have withdrawn from the race, sensing sure defeat?
June 27, 2008 10:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
Very few presidents wanted a 3rd term. I suspect GWB has had enough under any circumstances.
Johnson withdrew because he barely had a year as JFK's replacement -- and really wanted that 2nd term.
June 27, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know why her supporters/team seem to have such bad political instincts. To me, all of this coverage (which her side seems to be pushing) makes her look like a supplicant -- asking Obama to help her pay her debts, looking for a spot in his administration, waiting for some apology for something. I don't think she is a supplicant but her supporters seem hellbent on putting her in that spot. I wish even one of them would say, "She's going to be great and do great things, regardless of what Obama does."
June 27, 2008 3:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
That would require good political instincts. If they had them she would have won.
June 27, 2008 3:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Damn, I hit send before I got my tounge bit.
June 27, 2008 3:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
:)
Impulse control...Impulse control...
I can't tell you how many posts and responses I write, read over and then say, "Oh hell, I don't need to say that" and delete it without sending it.
It does feel good to write it, though.
June 27, 2008 10:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ironic, isn't it:
Obama has given more to Hillary's campaign than she, herself, has.
Again, Hillary doesn't lead by example, a terribly sign in an executive.
June 27, 2008 3:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
She has given $12,000,000.00 that she is not going to be repaid.
June 27, 2008 7:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
So far that $12M is still a "loan"... we await to see to what happens, although I would hope for the outcome you suggest.
June 27, 2008 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
are clinton donors not adults?? what the fuck is up with these "DEMANDS, KISS THE RING" shit?
she lost. get over it! i don't see lakers pouting and telling the celtics what to do. this is just pathetic.
obama is bending over backwards to be nice. he's TOO nice. damn hahaha
June 27, 2008 8:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
i feel the same way. even though she has lost, Hillary is acting as if BO owes her something. i get that her loss was painful, i get she was emotional distraught after the lost, but you still get the sense that she thinks he better kiss the ring or else.
At some point BO needs to stop bending over backwards to accommodate her. Like Jim Rendel said
yesterday, they need to get over it.
June 27, 2008 8:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
are clinton donors not adults?? what the fuck is up with these "DEMANDS, KISS THE RING" shit?
she lost. get over it! i don't see lakers pouting and telling the celtics what to do. this is just pathetic.
obama is bending over backwards to be nice. he's TOO nice. damn hahaha
June 27, 2008 8:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Obamas are playing it the Gandhi way: An eye for an eye, soon the whole world is blind.
As long as Obama doesn't look weak to the electorate, and I think he doesn't because he will not be pressured to put Senator Clinton on the ticket, there's absolutely no harm in being nice. It is not like the Lakers -- Clinton could affect Obama well after her loss whereas the NBA championship is a discrete event.
So, y'all, stop picking on my prodigy buddy Clinton -- prodigy because she was preparing for the presidency at age 25, age 17 if you discount 1993-2001 for which Obama attacked Bill Clinton alone, making the McDonald's poster child a little bit grumpy.
If every Obama contributor gave $5 to Clinton, that would add up to $7.5M -- almost eliminating her debt to others (not herself). I donated $25 to her campaign yesterday to make up for Tena and LisB and the others who are confirmed eye-pokers. On the web form, under occupation I put down Obama supporter.
June 27, 2008 9:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
O did you put my name on it? Thanks.
June 27, 2008 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
If each Obama supporter sent $5 to the DNC instead, that would do more to help increase Democratic majorities in Congress. Just a thought...
June 27, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am still digesting the strange 'up is down' logic of this donating.
The Obamas, worth about 4 million, mostly from Barack's best seller books, are personally giving $4,600 to pay off the vendors left unpaid by the Clintons, who themselves are worth more than 100 million dollars. The Clintons, who are worth more than 25 times the Obamas, have not offered any of their own personal money to pay those little company vendors, have they?
I agree with ye ye ye, this is about "KISS THE RING" symbolism.
June 27, 2008 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wish people would quit saying the Clintons are worth $100 million. It simply isn't true. They had income of $109 million since they left the White House, but when they left they were in debt by as much as $10 million. They also had to pay taxes on that income and made some substantial charitable donations.
Would it really spoil your point to talk about the Clintons and their $50 million?
June 27, 2008 10:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Bill...
still is giving speeches;
still is on Ron Burkle's payroll*; and
still has friends in Kazakhstan
Trust me -- it's way more than $50M.
*The only thing Bill ever said (through spokesmen) about Yucaipa was that he was getting himself in a position to be able to quickly divest from Yucaipa in the event that Hillary became the the nominee. Now that she won't be the nominee, there's no reason to assume that Bill hasn't put the kabosh on that, and is still collecting those checks.
June 27, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Aren't Hill and Bill embarrassed that they have to take money from these young upstarts to pay their debts? Or are they just shameless, and happy to retire to their mansion with $100 million dollars while other pay for their shoddy campaign?
I love Bill and Hill, really, but this money thing, and their sour grapes is irritating as hell.
June 27, 2008 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Give Terry a break, he just saw his career ambitions go up in smoke, you know he'll never be BMOC anymore...
June 27, 2008 9:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Elliott paid more for his hooker
...'all I'm saying!
June 27, 2008 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
I won't contribute a dime to the Clintons until she releases all her delegates, updates her web site to drop the "hillary for president" reference and donates the maximum to the Obama campaign. Trust her...absolutley not until we can verify her true intentions.
June 27, 2008 11:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Does anyone find it not a little vile that Hillary and her supporters are essentially trying to hold Obama hostage for the crime of...winning?
Does anyone believe, if John Edwards were the nominee, anyone would dare suggest he had to do back-flips, and work to help retire Clinton's debt, to "win back" Hillary voters?
What I'm saying is, if you don't see there is racism at the core of Hillary's trying to lean on Obama, you're not seeing clearly.
June 27, 2008 11:20 AM | Reply | Permalink