Obama Is Flush, Clinton In Debt - AP

[WillyT]

<snip>

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton is struggling with debt, Barack Obama would like to turn his whopping financial advantage into primary victories, and an uncontested John McCain still lags in fundraising even as he broadens his money-raising apparatus.

Financial reports filed Sunday offered a window into the challenges facing the presidential campaigns as Clinton and Obama continue to slug it out for the Democratic nomination and Republican McCain awaits off stage.

Obama began the month of April with $42 million in the bank for the primary to Clinton's $9.3 million.

But Clinton had debts of $10.3 million at the start of the month, much of it money owed to her main polling, phone banking and advertising consultants. The largest single debt was to the firm of her demoted former chief strategist, Mark Penn.

She also owed $1.17 million to The Spoken Hub, a phone bank operation, and $528,000 to ad maker Mandy Grunwald's firm.

But many of those owed money — vendors from Pennsylvania to Iowa to Texas — were not political insiders.

"We desperately need to see payments so we can pay our vendors," said Chris Menichetti, the founder and president of Endeavor Audio and Lighting Services in Dickson City, Pa., who was owed $43,484 by the campaign.

Still, several other firms contacted Monday said they did not consider the campaign delinquent on payments and were confident they would be paid.

"We will, of course, be honoring the debts in the coming weeks and months, and that goes for whatever our debts are and to whomever they are to," Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson said Monday.

For now, Clinton's red ink is less of an obstacle than her inability to keep up with Obama's prodigious fundraising. Obama raised $41 million in March, twice as much as Clinton. His nearly 5-1 edge in cash on hand gave him a rich base from which to challenge Clinton in Pennsylvania, which holds its primary on Tuesday.

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More: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcoilzhWtvfWBl2MqCAEW8J3UQKgD906I2S81

:shrug:

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. One flush, the other flushed?

We'll see pretty soon.

[MoJoWorkin]

2. ROFL!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[WillyT]

3. Loved THIS Part...

"But Clinton had debts of $10.3 million at the start of the month, much of it money owed to her main polling, phone banking and advertising consultants. The largest single debt was to the firm of her demoted former chief strategist, Mark Penn.

She also owed $1.17 million to The Spoken Hub, a phone bank operation, and $528,000 to ad maker Mandy Grunwald's firm.

But many of those owed money — vendors from Pennsylvania to Iowa to Texas — were not political insiders.

"We desperately need to see payments so we can pay our vendors," said Chris Menichetti, the founder and president of Endeavor Audio and Lighting Services in Dickson City, Pa., who was owed $43,484 by the campaign."

:shrug:

[SoonerPride]

4. "Look here, Mrs. Clinton, you're out of money. It's over, sweetheart."

[mucifer]

5. It's really sick how much money is wasted on elections

We should have publicly funded elections like in other countries.

[Andy823]

7. I agree with you.

100%. Think of what good that money could do if spent on things that would help this country, like putting it to our national debt maybe!

[rainbow4321]

6. "be honoring the debts in the coming weeks and months"

Months??? You're gonna wait months to pay for service rendered in March?
I'll have to try that line with my creditors and see how it flys.

[Andy823]

8. This is what really ticks me off!

You can bet her priorities will be to Penn and the other well to do "consultants", while the people that really need their money to pay their bills, will end up with nothing!

How anyone can defend this kind of thing is beyond me. Do any of you Clinton supporters have a problem with what she has done?