Clinton to fund raisers: "do all we can to elect Obama" . . ."I don't expect help repaying loan"

[grantcart]

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/on_conference_call_hillary_urg.php

According to TPM's Greg Sargent Senator Clinton made four key points in a private call to key fundraisers yesterday.

1) Electing Senator Obama is of the highest imortance:

"I am going to do everything I can to ensure victory for Senator Obama," Hillary told her fundraisers on the call. "I am asking each of you to do the same. I really believe we've got to see a Democrat sworn into the White House this January."

The call, which I was able to listen to in its entirety, left little doubt that Hillary was unequivocally signaling to her top financial supporters -- who are being actively courted by Obama -- that the time had come for them to do their part in getting him elected President.

Hillary added that "the stakes are too high" to do anything but "do all we can to elect Barack Obama President," in order to "turn the economy around" and "protect a woman's right too choose."

2) She is not expecting help on repaying her personal loan:

On the topic of her debts, Hillary said: "Many of you also know that my campaign is facing debt. That happens when you're outspent...I have also loaned money to the campaign which I consider an investment...I'm not expecting anybody to help pay that back."


3)She would like help in the remaining debt still owed:

"But I am hoping to get your help in our efforts to pay off our vendors," she continued, adding that "any amount you can give or help raise would go a long way" towards doing that.


4) At some point in the future she would address the media's handling of her campaign:

Hillary then suggested that she'd be making public statements soon about the media's treatment of her candidacy.

Speaking of the campaign, Hillary noted that "there were a lot of other aspects to it that people are asking about. A lot of real concerns about some of the ways we were portrayed in the media and the way women were discussed."

"I will be doing more on that as we go forward," Hillary said.

[juno jones]

1. This is leadership.

Always knew she had it in her. Hope she keeps it up.

[blondeatlast]

2. That's strength! And it's good to hear she will address the sexism in the media. I leaned to Obama

from the beginning (just a bit) but the sexism from the media was disgusting.

It would not have mattered whichever of them won, we would have seen the latent hatred exposed.

[Poll_Blind]

3. It's too bad she still expects others to pay her debts when she has the money to pay them herself.

  Pay the vendors out of your own pocket Sen. Clinton- the people who tirelessly worked for you for free gave you far more than 6 million worth of work. You have the millions to pay the vendors' bills and tens of millions to spare after you do.

  Just....stop. Stop it. Own this disaster and make it better.

PB

[Independent-Voter]

7. Exactly. She should consider this a cheap lesson on how to run a real campaign in the Internet era

[JoFerret]

59. Mean spirited and short sighted post

.

[SeaLyons]

10. The democratic party is a family...

and families help one another.

[dailykoff]

16. She endorsed McCain, on tape, several times.

Let Cindy pay her AmEx bill.

[MonkeyFunk]

23. Really?

surely you have a link to a video of her saying she endorses McCain, or that she intends to vote for him?

Otherwise, stop the lying.

[grantcart]

47. just ignore him he's beyond being rational

[wvbygod]

28. No. She. Did. Not.

Using your logic one could say you support murderers because you are against the death penalty.

[samsingh]

35. that's repug logic - :)

[blondeatlast]

40. Pull stuff outta your ass much? Show me--unedited, please. nt

[SeaLyons]

42. I'm waiting to hear and see that "tape"...

are you going to post a link????

[JoFerret]

58. You are beyond ridiculous

.

[greguganus]

19. Could you help me pay off my house? n/t

[ecstatic]

25. I know right? Since we're all a huge family. LOL nt

[Poll_Blind]

31. No. If my family member racked up that kind of debt, I'd put 'em in rehab.

  Enabling doesn't fix anything. And, by the way, I think one of the other respondants needs help with their mortgage. You talk the talk, gonna PayPal the walk? :evilgrin:

  Seriously, though, your simplistic assertion is a joke of an argument in a situation like this. You kinda got that kum-ba-ya glow going for a moment but it guttered out in the face of the situation.

PB

[sallyseven]

18. Don;t you Hillary haters

know anything? She cannot give the money to her campaign. IT IS AGAINST THE FRIGGIN LAW. Her Campaign must pay her back. JMJ how may times do you have to see this before you stop your silliness? Grow up!!!!!

[Skwmom]

20. Since when can't a candidate NOT donate to their own campaign?

Romney gave his campaign millions.

Plus, I don't think her campaign HAS TO pay her back. She just is out the money if they don't by a certain date.

[MonkeyFunk]

30. Romney technically loaned money to his campaign

[grantcart]

22. Loans to the campaign which are not repaid are in effect defaulted loans

and the the money is lost.

It is in effect a contribution to the campaign by the candidate.

One more loophole in the system. Romney "loaned" his campaign 40 million that will never be repaid.

[Poll_Blind]

33. Uh, she can loan her campaign the money to pay off the vendors.

  Is that clear enough for you, Einstein?

PB

[wvbygod]

24. She is STILL a Democrat. We help eachother

Put away the Hillary hate if you can and join the team. Division is not an operand we need at this time.

[Oregone]

4. "Many of you also know that my campaign is facing debt. That happens when you're outspent."

Na, that happens when you spend more than you raise....being outspent (a negatively connotated notion) has nothing to do with it.

Being outspent only indicates either A) the other campaign is more in debt than you, or B) the other campaign is better at raising money than you.

[Skwmom]

21. I agree. Obama outspending her did not cause her to go into debt. n/t

[ecstatic]

27. It's hard to get on board when she

makes such misleading statements. I'm trying my best though.

[murbley40]

43. It is hard for me to get on board too;;

Especially since nothing has changed since Hillary suspended her campaign and graciously said she would support Obama fully. My problem is that here on this board there is no unifying , there is just as much hate and nastiness as there ever was directed by Obama supporters at Hillary and her supporters. You can't unify that way. It is what kept me from even listening to Obama. If he is the man you all say he is, you do him a great injustice, by your nasty behavior.
I am a Bidenite.(and boy, did you all attack and belittle him day and night !) After he dropped out I could have gone for either Hillary or Obama,but Obama supporters here kept me from even checking him out,and I went to Hillary. I know you all do not care,
but it is keeping me from supporting him now, too. You might come to realize,although I doubt it that he just might need Hilary's support as well as the support of the other candidates in order to get this job done. But you just keep right on with your nasty slurs and holier than thou attitudes,you will be the first to turn on him if he is elected and screws up. And he will, everybody does sooner or later.

[Oregone]

53. Well I, for one, would never attack Biden...

He always steals the best speeches and quotes when talking, so there is nothing I can find fault with.

:)

(Im going to duck and run for cover)

[dorktv]

57. *gives you a flame retardant suit*

[Poll_Blind]

39. Ergo: If you lose a poker hand it's the other guy's fault for raising, not yours for calling the bet

:evilgrin:

PB

[Oregone]

5. "...real concerns about some of the ways we were portrayed in the media and the way women were..."

Well, I agree, but please give me this...

At least they didn't call her Bill's Baby Mama.

Id be hard pressed to buy any argument that sexism had a major role in her losing the nomination. Perhaps if she were running against a white, male America, but clearly that wasn't the case. Yes, there was sexism, but for the close-minded bigoted primary voters, there was a much larger looming phobia. Let's stop with the excuses all ready.

[moriah]

9. Racism doesn't make sexism any less wrong.

Nor vice-versa.

I'd like to see a compilation of the extremely racist media portrayals in a video, similar to the video made with the theme "Sexism Sells, But I'm Not Buying It".

Of course, it may have to wait until after November, because I highly doubt we've seen the end of it.

[Oregone]

11. Certainly not less wrong, but definitely less effective.

Who would the misogynistic racist vote for in the primary (and there are Dem's to be described as such).

Yes, it is wrong and should be addressed in any context. But you must realize that it is being touted as an excuse and crutch by many, because she lost, which is somewhat annoying.

Its like saying, I'm the better candidate, but i lost because .... (sexism), (i was outspent), (unfair primary system), etc...Its time to move past all that (even if its a subtle hint at this point).

[blondeatlast]

13. As an Obama supporter, it's not whether the sexism helped her lose. It's that it was all over

the tubes with only one notable apology that I know of (Tweety's).

Even my 100% Obama-supporting, unenlightened-when-it-comes-to-feminism husband commented on it before I'd ever said a word about it to him.

It's not about the win or the loss, it's the prevalence of it that matters.

[Arkansas Granny]

14. Exposing the sexism that was used by the media may very well have an effect

on how other women candidates are portrayed in the future as well as candidates wives. This is something that needs to be explored and in no way diminishes the gravity of the racism which has also reared it's ugly head.

[blondeatlast]

26. You said it better than I could. Well done! nt

[Oregone]

29. I completely agree with this. I am just reactionary to the "excuse" angle is all.

(and excuses also question Obama's legitimacy in some ways).

The media needs to be massively reformed in my opinion to stop this onslaught of crap. Too bad press credentials are not going to be revoked any time soon, nor fines levied.

I honestly think that the press should only be free, so long is it is actually news (not corporate controlled talking points, propaganda and spin). In the sake of "freedom" of press, its almost like our country has no standards for the shit they spew 24/7 (from racist, to sexist, to xenophobist, to homophobic opinions).

[Arkansas Granny]

37. I don't know that sexism is being played as an excuse, but it had to have had

some negative effect on her campaign. It was all over the media, and while some of it was subtle and some of it was just outrageous and, in most cases, never addressed.

[karynnj]

52. Not to mention, she was the preferred choice of nearly 50% Democrats

for 2 years before the election. That would not have happened if sexism was rampant. She started losing people as her campaign - especially Bill - overreacted to things, making them worse.

The media spent most of 2007 saying her campaign was flawless and that she was inevitable. I didn't see the campaign as flawless, I saw the media papering over problems. At the first sign of trouble, the Philly Debate, she was fine in teh debate but Bill went crazy speaking of swiftboating etc and she spoke of the men ganging up on the "girl". She also played the gender card in the NH debate claiming that it was change to elect her because she was a woman. I thought claiming that "gender is connected to policy" was sexist.

[Barack_America]

6. Pay the vendors, not the personal debt.

That's what I've been waiting to hear and I'm on board. I'd even go so far to say that I hope they make a joint appearance at a fundraiser...to pay off her debt.

Her vendors, many of whom are small business owners, need to be paid. Money outstanding to them is a stain on the entire party. But I don't like the idea of asking regular, struggling Americans to cough up cash to pay back a millionaire. That just didn't sit well with me at all.

[high density]

8. So, in other words, she wants help with $20 million of her $30 million debt

I think she should suck it up and use another $20 million of her own money to settle the debts to vendors. She's doublespeaking here.

[grantcart]

36. No double speak she doesn't want any help on repaying her loan but for the rest people that

are interested in helping her - she would appreciate.

This seems entirely reasonable given a) she wants them to support Obama with maximum gifts and b) many of her supporters wanted her to continue her campaign. Its not as if her supporters continued to decline in number and they were discouraging her from campaigning. Those who were encouraging her should feel free to help if they are able.

[SeaLyons]

12. She is the best....

and I'm looking forward to her future comments and work on sexism and media bias.

[ecstatic]

15. Every penny should be going towards the GE, IMO

This isn't right.

[dailykoff]

17. I hope it means Obama said no deal.

Otherwise why would she still be rattling her tin cup?

[democrattotheend]

48. I agree

If she makes good on her promise between now and November to work her heart out to help get Obama elected, I am happy to contribute to help her pay off her debt after the election. But I think right now my money is better spent helping to get Obama elected. I may make a small contribution to Hillary if Obama asks us to though.

[samsingh]

32. welcome back Hillary.

[Life Long Dem]

34. The important thing is she told her supporters to lay off Obama.

[K Gardner]

38. After reading this, I'll gladly donate to a debt fund for Hillary. Thank you, Senator Clinton !

[grantcart]

45. thank you for your kind response

[last1standing]

41. Good for Hillary. Too bad some people on this board can't follow her lead.

And I'm not talking about the Hillary supporters. A few of the rabid Obama supporters who refuse to stop the petty attacks are creating much more discord than Hillary did.

Why whine about her asking for help in paying off vendors? Does every single moment of her life and being need to be physically sacrificed to Obama's campaign for some people to get off her back? Will that be enough?

It's pathetic that the same people who keep screaming "GET OVER IT!" are the ones who lose no chance to attack an ex-candidate who is working to elect our nominee.

Maybe we need another round of pizza deliveries at DU. :mad:

[grantcart]

44. no they stay just within the rules

It isn't just tiresome its also counterproductive

The only thing of any importance is the GE.


Everything has to be viewed from that one point of view. When Senator Clinton steps out and helps it is of tremendous value -

and it isn't easy for her - she made a big committment to running and you can't simply turn that switch off in a second when you have that level of a committment.

So good for her and maybe we should just ignore the few that don't get it.

[JohnnyLib2]

46. Reminds me of divorced parents who keep hoping and wishing

that the ex will just disappear, magically. :banghead:

[grantcart]

49. or when they destroy the child out of revenge

[Beacool]

55. Hear, hear!!!!

"Rabid" is precisely the word.

:thumbsdown:

[Catherine Vincent]

56. They suck! nt

[JoFerret]

60. You are absolutely right.

And they are often the ones gleefully proclaiming every little TS "victory". A few dead enders going peaceful would be a welcome relief. But - best to have them still around. They do provide some amusement along with their delivery of self righteousness.

[cbayer]

62. This really needed to be said.

They are a small but persistent and vocal group and I am sick of them. It is hard for me to imagine what their purpose is at this point. They will find fault in anything she does or says and will never be satisfied. One of the best things about a potential Obama/Clinton ticket would be that this small group of people would have to shut up or leave.

[phrigndumass]

50. Kickin' ...

I can spare a few bucks, I think I'll chip in.

[karynnj]

51. Number 4 is divisive and should not be done before November

I may be wrong, but this looks like she is signaling an attempt to improve the reputation of the campaign she ran. I do understand this because there likely are things where she disagrees with how the media is portraying it. The fact is that opinion is not likely to change because of anything HRC says. (Look at how little the opinions of most people changed on Kerry's race - even though he is credited with a high road campaign and there is ample proof of what he gave the media on the SBFT.)

The thing is that NOW is not the time to have that conversation. Now is the time to rally behind the candidate.

In particular making it a "woman's" issue is wrong. The fact is that through 2005, 2006 and 2007; HRC was more than 20% ahead. She lost people due to her campaign and negatives some saw for the first tome. As I am in the right age/sex category, I know many many people who assumed that I, like them was for HRC. There were many conversations in 2005, 2006 - Some starting with, "This should be a great year - the Clintons will beat anyone that the Republicans can put up. A few even suggested it was good Kerry lost - that this way the fault falls on the Republicans and we get H*I*L*L*A*R*Y, not kerry. They didn't like my response that I was for Kerry in 2008 and he had more integrity in his smallest finger nail than either Clinton had in their whole body.

This was her nomination to lose. When she was near 50% even with 7 competitors, people knew she was female - and had no problem with it.

[JoFerret]

61. Addressing injustice and prejudice and defamation

is not divisive.

[DeepModem Mom]

54. Well done, grantcart -- thank you! nt