Obama Camp Pitches in to Reduce Clinton Campaign Debt

[jefferson_dem]

Obama Camp Pitches in to Reduce Clinton Campaign Debt
By Emily Cadei, CQ Staff

Unity has been the key word at the Democratic convention in Denver this week as the party seeks to overcome lingering hard feels from a bruising primary.

With their emphatic endorsements of presidential nominee Barack Obama , Bill and Hillary Clinton did their part to bring together the party. The Obama campaign has also been fulsome in its praise of the Clintons, but over the past month it has also provided something that perhaps speaks louder than words — cash.

An analysis of contribution records by CQ MoneyLine found that 63 of Obama’s top financial supporters, also known as “bundlers,” gave more than $130,000 to Hillary Clinton’s shuttered presidential campaign between the time she dropped out of the race and the end of July.

Clinton racked up nearly $24 million worth of debt during the hard-fought Democratic primary contest, including more than $12 million from her personal funds, and has had little success in paying that balance down thus far.

As part of his effort to win over Clinton and her supporters, Obama called on his finance team to give what they could to the Clinton campaign at the end of June. In the month since that plea, the campaign and its financial backers, an aide noted, have held a series of fundraising events to benefit Clinton, including a high-profile reception in New York City.

Many of Obama’s biggest bundlers gave to Clinton during this period, including Chicago realty magnate Penny Pritzker, the campaign’s finance chairwoman, California finance chairman John Roos, who heads Palo Alto law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, and finance team member and New York investor Steven Gluckstern.

But those who gave still amount to only 12 percent of the more than 500 bundlers the Obama campaign boasts in total.

Some Clinton supporters have reportedly found that inadequate. But there is still time for Obama backers to pitch in — that $23 million isn’t going anywhere.

Alex Knott contributed to this story.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002942139

[C_U_L8R]

1. Now lets see the big Clinton donors come around

UNITY

[endthewar]

2. I wonder how much money Hillary made in her speech on Tuesday

Probably more money than even Bill has been paid for a speech.

[blm]

3. When Dubai royals dropped 20 million into Bill's bank account earlier this year, wasn't that enough

to cover a huge chunk of the bills they racked up? They kept going during that primary (even after they knew she wouldn't win after Super Tuesday) because they could personally AFFORD to keep going. So....they can personally afford to pay their bills. Bloomberg did. Corzine did.