Obama's Campaign Staffers Get Bonuses

Barack Obama ended his campaign so flush with cash he's telling staffers to keep the change - and then some.

Long-suffering political footsoldiers who toiled tirelessly, at least since September, to put Obama in the White House recently learned they will be getting extra paychecks worth a month's salary, the Daily News has learned.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Indubio]

My son worked as a paid canvaser for our local Congressman and he was paid $500/month to work 4 hours a day for 4 days a week and 6 hours for one day. He ended up working just about every hour he wasn't in school or not sleeping, which I was told is typical. Campaign workers get very low pay and they are expected to put in lots of volunteer hours. Further, they often use their personal equipment like cell phones, lap tops, and Blackberries without compensation. The local campaign office was robbed of two personal lap tops and in neither case were the workers offerer reimbursement and my son was mugged, rob of $10/, a $30 leather wallet, and his cell phone and he too was never offered compensation. That a politician would offer to pay his staff a bonus with left over money is great and in most cases they deserve it.

[MargaretO]

They did work that I could not do. I'm thrilled to have been able to contribute.

[GoVeg]

This campaign is the best in history so they definitely deserved it.

[luke150]

Well deserved. When there are results, there should be bonuses. I am happy the way my contributions have been spent. I got what I wanted!

[Jamchinadian]

Many - maybe most - of the comments here are positive. But there are a few, but too many at any number, who have responded in such poor taste to such a classy act by a classy human being. It's sad how small-minded some responders are.

[nanners0808]

bravo!!

thank you to all of the volunteers who worked so tirelessly. i'm glad that obama and his team shared the wealth :). i wholeheartedly approve of the way my donations have been used and am so impressed by the leadership decisions obama has made with the campaign money.

ha ha - and the republicans made fun of community organizers .......

[moongal6]

You're welcome. I was so proud to volunteer in my state (Oregon). I live in a totally RED county. I got booed out of local stores, not for campaigning, but for just wearing my volunteer name tag. I got flipped off, yelled at, etc. But, you know, it was soooooo worth it. I am proud my state went BLUE.
I loved your comment about community organizers. The way Palin, Guiliani, and all those delegates made fun of Obama's organizing roots, literally made me feel sick.
If it were not for community organizers like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Ben Franklin, and yes, George Washington, there would be no America.
It all started at the local level.
I Thank you for your comments.

[realistnotsocialist]

Very well deserved and perfect timing for all those folks! They earned every penny! What a campaign...icing on on the cake!

[kid5rivers2]

This is not socialism: it's supercapitocommunosocialihistic behavior at it pristine best, that's what it is. At least that's how Mary Poppins would describe it.

[Big0725]

I got a headache reading that!

[jaydeedub]

http://flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/sets/72157608716313371/show/

[CamJam]

Thank you!

[XME]

Very nice...especially since these people are now having to look for another job. Should give them a little wiggle room since the economy stinks and the holidays are nearly upon us. Not a great time to be job hunting.

[hapiguy]

Wow, Bonus Money that was actually earned,,,and well earned at that,,,good luck to the whole group,
Maybe Corps could learn a lesson here,,,you EARN compensation, it is a reward for reaching a goal..

[BPCentrisAmerican]

They earned every penny, good for them.

[AllenD]

Took the words right off of my keyboard!

[greyseal in tampa]

A textbook example of the appropriate use of bonuses. Good going, everybody!

[LameDuckHunting]

It's encouraging to hear about bonuses being paid to people who EARNED them!

[furryone]

hell yeah, they earned them!!! glad a little of my donations to the campaign is going to the workers--- way to go everyone! :)

[Chris Savage - Huffpost Blogger]

I know the Field Officers and the Regional Director in the Ann Arbor area where positively THRILLED that they get to keep their computers and BlackBerries. And, wow, do they deserve them. Those people were putting in 15-18 hour days for several months up to the election. They were tireless and impressed me greatly.