Hilary Clinton: In it for the Money?
Just a quick thought: Is Hilary Clinton only staying in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination for the money?
A little background: The Clintons have lent her campaign more than $11 million. As I remember it, loans to campaigns are repayable in full only until the party conventions (and only if the campaign has the money, of course). After that, each lender can only be repaid up to $250,000.
I may have the details of this rule wrong, but I’m fairly confident I have the consequences right: If Clinton drops out of the race now and loses her fundraising ability, she will be unable to repay herself and her husband, beyond $250,000. If she stays in, she can continue to raise the money she needs to pay back her loans—which, it’s worth saying, also include millions of dollars from non-Clinton lenders.
UPDATE: A piece on abcnews.com has some of the details. They stop short of suggesting alterior motives for staying in the race, of course.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Why so cynical? Help make history.
May 24th, 2008 at 7:57 am
I make history every day. Yesterday, for example, was a first for humankind: Nobody with my name and life history and genes had ever gone to Lidia’s on May 23rd, 2008.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:53 am
some hint that she’s staying in and negotiating behind the scenes (or will) for the obama campaign to pick up her debt if she agrees to drop out. that also has historical precedent…
May 25th, 2008 at 9:27 am
That’s very interesting. Obama can afford $10 million, I bet, but how bad does he really need her to drop out? Maybe it’s also about her being cooperative… A recent SNL sketch had her making the case for herself as the nominee based on, among other factors, how uncooperative she’d be (as compared to Obama) if she lost. Hilarious, and true?