Democratic Party has a $15 million debt

WASHINGTON — Party officials say the Democratic National Committee has a $15 million debt in the wake of the Nov. 4 election.

The party took out loans to cover a surge of expenditures in the final weeks of the campaign. President-elect Barack Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, issued an e-mail appeal for contributions Wednesday to help the party committee get out of the red.

Plouffe wrote: "Our friends at the Democratic National Committee laid it all on the line to bring change this year. We've been reviewing the books, and the DNC went into considerable debt to secure victory for Barack and Joe. It took unprecedented resources to staff up all 50 states, train field organizers, and build the technology to reach as many swing voters as possible."