Obama Donors Not Rushing To Help Clinton

A prominent donor to Senator Barack Obama recently sent an e-mail plea to other supporters, asking them -- for the sake of Democratic unity -- to write checks to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to help retire her $23 million in campaign debt.

Some of the replies are unprintable, given the coarse language, the donor said. A sampling of others included:

"Why would I help pay off debts that Hillary amassed simply to keep damaging Senator Obama?"

"Gas prices are up, the markets are in turmoil, my kid's fall tuition bill is coming soon. Writing checks to politicians I don't like is not at the top of my list."

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[texanna]

I suspect that there a whole lot of Clinton supporters who do not intend to send one, red cent to Sen. Obama. I am beginning to believe that the premise of Sen. Obama's campaign is not "change" but is instead "faith-based". As in, he just wants us to have faith that he's a good guy who is going to do the right thing IF we will just vote him into office. That may be, but he'll do so without any funding from me.

[trinity29]

where are her 18 million voters that she was holding hostage unless she got her way? perhaps they were not 18 million voters but 18 million votes? there is no way a single cent of my money will go towards retiring her debt. she puts herself above party, above the country. her actions should have consequences that are only hers to bear. if she appears unsupportive in getting behind O, then she is digging her own grave and will definitely have a lot to lose. i understand why O has to do what he has to do. however, any money i give will directly go to O and never to her ever.

[Samson1]

It's ok if they don't help out. A lot of us HRC supporters are more and more on the fence about voting for Obama. Everyday he looks more and more like a faux Republican. FISA? Late term abortion? Religious office in the government. Where is the transcendent "new" leader? Looks a lot like a democratic GWB. Anyone remember compassionate conservative? Trouble is, with candidates like this, how do you know what you are going to get? You can't look at his record, you can only look at what he says and he, just like McCain, seems to have several conflicting positions over time.

[NeoStar9]

If even half of Hillary's so called 18 million supporters sent in as little as 2 to 5 dollar shouldn't that easily help her do away with this debt? Why isn't she asking them for even that little bit of money? Why is Sen. Obama held responsible for helping her pay off the debt she knowingly and willingly built up?

[allonfla]

Maybe, just maybe Obama's donors are holding out because the Clinton donors are holding out. Remember the comment made weeks ago by one of her supporters? He said Clinton telling them to donate or support Obama was like your mother forcing you to do something you don't want to. I don't rememer the exact quote.

[SickoPoliticos]

Seeing Obama & Hillary together is as hypocritical as McCain/Bush hugging back in 2000.

[realityczech4u]

I think it's time for Bill and Hill to get out the ole checkbook and pay down her debt themselves. Post-payment, the enormous pile of loot they're sitting on would still amount to over $80 million. I think they can somehow manage to squeek by on that paltry sum through the rest of their lives and still pass plenty along to Chelsea. The debt is her/their responsibility and I fail to see the justification in her looking for handouts.

[MaeScott]

Where's the 18 million HRC supporters?
Where's PUMA...she's your gal, help the sister out.

[harriscrl3]

I agree with this donor's comments thats my ambivalence on helping Hilary. She amassed this debt to destroy Obama its not right as an Obama supporter to pay for that. If she was running a fair campaign rather than the slash and burn method she did towards Obama I wouldnt mind but she tried to destroy him its not right to pay off a debt accrued for that reason.

Carol

[HerbTee]

No campaign debt assistance whatsoever should be offered to HRC. If she couldn"t afford to run her campaign with funds from donors, but continued anyway, it's HER fault. HRC ran a nasty, race-baiting, divisive campaign against BO and went into debt doing so. If she couldn't afford the debts, she should have dropped out...like many candidates do when they run out of money. Now she wants a bailout from supporters of the man she tried to destroy and had no mathematical chance of winning against? Well, she certainly won't get any money from me!

What happened to her rhetoric, "I never give up!" or "I am a fighter" or "I will fight for you!" Well woman, you can now fight to pay off your debts. As for the $11 million she loaned her campaign, it"s a write off. She gambled with her own money and lost, like a loser in a high stakes Vegas card game.

If she cares for those "blue-collar hard-working Whites" she railed about against BO, she"d better ensure they get paid for services they (and workers of other races) provided her campaign.

[Kim445588]

It'll be a cold day in h@ll before Mr. Penn sees a dime of my money.

[neesy08]

i don't blame them. this is hillary's debt. it is a debt that could have been avoided had she dropped out of the race when she saw she could not win. her ego got in the way. even some of her people were telling her to drop out, but she didn't. let her reach into ber pocketbook and write a check for $12 million.

[MemphisBuffalo]

She ran the debt up long after she was out of the running. Now she wants the very people she attacked to pay for her silly ego debt. Where are all the hardcore women supporters with checks? Don't tell me they are off giving money to McSame! She made the debt mess herself and should pay for it herself.

[mredder4]

Too bad more Barack Obama donors didn't use their money to elect a decent politician instead of this flip-flopper we're seeing. At least Clinton had a spine when it came to FISA.

[NickNas]

SOO Mredder4 How much cash did YOU send to Hillary??? How Much are you sending her to retire her Debt???

LOL NOTHING that is how much... All talk....I am sure she appreciates your futile attempts to sway opinion back to her though ...Really.

[amst]

Yea real spine. Obama already voted no, Hillary is out of the race, what will that accomplish besides spite. Typical. I am soooooo thankful Hillary didn't win. To think I was so thrilled in the beginning to have two great candidates. After seeing how low-down and dirty she and as it turns out, many of her supporteres are, I am eternally gratrefully that the right candidate won.

[Egalitare]

I applaud HRC for voting against this. But I seriously doubt that she would be voting the same way if she was the nominee. For "Joe and Jane Undecided" FISA means "protecting America": Telecom immunity is a very minor issue for them. HRC knows how that would cut in September and October just as well as Obama does.

[Kim445588]

Let me guess, you're going to show us all by voting for McClone. That'll teach us a lesson.

[trinity29]

really? because for the first FISA vote she didn't show up. could it be a grandstand like that now that she has lost cannot really harm her anyway and just becomes a political gesture?

[Countdown09]

Addition to my early post, I suggested that perhaps the solution could be that both camps set up some sort of matching donation drive between Hill and Obama supporters, I would add ONLY until her debt is paid off.

[Countdown09]

If a Hillary supporter sends Obama $20 I'll send Hillary $20, perhaps this is the way to resolve this. Perhaps the campaigns could figure out a way to setup it up.