Note to Senator Obama

To: Senator Barack Obama
From: Charles Warner

My wife, Julia Bradford, and I have both ardently supported you since the beginning of your campaign when we attended your March, 2007, fundraiser in New York. We are maxed out in our contributions to your primary campaign to become the Democratic Party's nominee and have given over $1,000 to your presidential campaign because we are convinced that you will be the nominee. I co-hosted a party that raised over $10,000 for your candidacy. We took a bus from New York to Philadelphia the Sunday before the Pennsylvania primary to canvas door to door for you in South Philadelphia.

We believe in you and are convinced you will be a president who America and the world will be proud of. We are convinced you will be a president who will tell the truth to the American people and begin to make some necessary changes that will help to repair America's reputation internationally and help to save our precious environment.

We did not give Hillary Clinton a penny. Her mendacious, destructive, poorly managed, and pandering campaign has demonstrated how unfit she is to be president. We did not give your campaign money to see it go to her. If your campaign agrees to pay off any of her campaign's debt in order to bribe her to get out of the race, you will have betrayed our trust in you and you will plummet to her unprincipled level in the gutter.

You have promised to change the ways of Washington politics. Stick to your promise. Don't bribe her. Don't give her a dollar - not a penny of our money. If you do, you will not only break your promise of change, you will also not get any more money from us or millions of other people, and, most importantly, you will lose the mantle of idealism and hope that attracted us to you in the first place.

Finally, idealism is nice, but realistically, you don't need to bail her out. You're going to win the nomination without bribing her. Save the money and invest it in beating McCain. We'll help if you keep our faith and the money we've already given you.

Comments

[rmreddicks]

I think perhaps it's not legal for the Obama campaign to directly pay Clinton's debt. If after the general election he wishes to make some of his (obviously more savvy than Clinton's) fund raisers available to her I say, "have at it." Could be quite a laugh. It would be interesting to see if anyone responds to her, Bill and Penn's "plight". Maybe Cindy McCain might help.

[dollphingurl]

i completely agree.

Sillary should have enough anecdotal material for a whole new ghost-written book by the time this primary race is over.

let's be clear: Hillary's BEST FEW WEEKS IN THIS CAMPAIGN OCCURRED AT THE SAME TIME AS OBAMA'S WORST FEW WEEKS AND SHE STILL COULDN'T BEAT HIM.

THAT'S a real Rocky Balboa for you. David and Goliath, et al.

Obama '08 AND '12

[YenNguyen]

I love the fact that Obama supporters are fiscally responsible.

[AuntSam]

'Liberalrebuttal' just posted this on other story site about same subject: PLEASE READ AND PASS ON!

THIS STORY IS FALSE !!!!

"Hillary"s Debt Will NOT Be Paid By Obama for America.

It is not legal to do so.

I secured this information personally from campaign HQ in a phone conversation with the Finance Chairman In Chicago at 2:40 P.M. EDT today Thursday, May 8th. I was asked to relay this information onto the blog by the Finance Chairman.

DONATE to Obama with Absolute Confidence.

There is no need to worry that your donations to Obama for America will go anywhere else.

None of the money you donate to Obama will be diverted to payoff Hillary Clinton"s debt.


Kill Any Rumor To The Contrary � and pass this along, please.

A rumor started about this based on some loose comments by Tim Russert.

Many here became worried and said they would stop donating if it was the case that HRC"s debt would be paid for by us. It Is Not The Case and it will not happen.

Why did I call HQ about this? I called because many bloggers had/have posted that they will not donate to the Obama campaign if Hillary"s debt is paid for by us / Obama for America."

Don"t believe him (as trustworthy as he is ;o) ?? Call for yourself: 312-819-2008

[lbrillante]

If there is some reason that Senator Obama sees that he wants to try to do this... I think he should NOT try to replace the money that the Clintons 'loaned' the campaign and hey should limit the funds to paying reasonable debts or a limited amount AND it should only be paid fo by a fundraising effort 'raised explicitly for this purpose' That means anyone who donates to that end must be asked to do so explicitly and no funds from his regular campaign fundraising should be used.

But frankly, I do not think he should do this at all.

I wish they were not talking about it because it may encourage Senator Clinton to spend more on her battle against him.

[ThomasDoubting]

If I thought that I could be reimbursed for 20 Million Dollars ($20,000,000.00), I would have run too. Maybe this is a way to lower the cost of elections. Will Obama be expected to buy out the others, Kucinich, Dodd, Richardson, Biden, and Edwards. I bet Mike Gravel would appreciate a few bucks. Maybe Obama has other plans for the 20 Mil. Maybe he wants to invest it in a small jobs program, maybe green jobs, maybe some good jobs will come of it. Maybe he wants to donate $ 20 Million worth of high tech equipment, computers etc. for schools that are in desperate need, especially in the parts of the country, that need it the most. Maybe he wants to invest the 20 Million in a trust that could then pay for health care insurance for some of the 50 million people who still are unable to pay for their own health care. Don't disappoint us Barrack, she, and her husband, are earning about 10 Million per year, without being President. I think that Barracks' supporters will feel better too.

[brijit]

If Hillary actually expects a bail-out from Obama, the first thing she should do is to stop wasting even more money on this campaign. Immediately How does Obama know that the money won't go to even more TV ads saying various versions of "Obama is a schmuck?" Why even think of helping someone with her debts at the very time she's running up more and more debt? I imagine Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, et al. also spent tons of money on their campaigns. Are they asking for money too, or is it just that endlessly tedious Hillary?

[laylahb]

I've read several articles about the possibility of having Sen Obama cover Sen Clinton's outstanding liabilities, including $11.5mm in loans made from the Clintons' considerable assets. These "news" pieces seem to be pure conjecture at this point, and there has not been any confirmation that the Obama campaign is giving this serious consideration.

If the Obama campaign does give this any consideration to this proposal, as a donor I feel disgusted. I did not make several contribution to the Obama campaign to cover the liabilities of a mismanaged Clinton campaign. Handing over my donations to the high- priced "masterminds" of the Clinton campaign is unfathomable. An estimated $4 mm+ is owed to that (pig) Mark Penn, and the total to the rest of her genius strategic team would exceed that. Paying them off, and returning the $11.5mm to the poverty-stricken Clintons is really hard to stomach.

Incidentally, George Stephanopolis, on Good Morning America, stated that the outstanding liabilities could actually be several times the number floating around. The initial estimate is $20mm. I feel-very strongly- that our donations to the Obama campaign should be going to the Obama for President general election campaign.

[creo13]

Bill just needs to make a few more speeches to pay off the debt. Don't pay off her bills with my money!!!
Offenseive to me and is not good business.

[downwithbs]

Hundreds of thousands of small donors rallying to Obama only to to see their donations pay off Hillary's debt?

Pul-eeeze.

Let's not forget:
Hillary chose to put up her staff at the Bellagio and pay ridiculously high-priced consultants.
It was her choice to put millions of her own dollars at risk in the campaign.
And in the future, Hillary and Bill will not be building houses for Habitat. They'll continue to rake in big bucks in speaking fees, book royalties, and trans-national business deals.

There are far better ways of mending the Democratic party's fences. How about giving any excess cash to the campaigns of women candidates who share Obama's ideals?

[foufou]

Thank you Mr. Warner, you are voicing the sentiments of many.

[lodimoon]

I am also disappointed to learn that Obama might consider paying off her debts. Hillary has run a spendthrift campaign for president. In NY she blew through over $50 million running against a non-viable opponent. She has not proven to be a manager, leader or a voice for the majority of Democrats.

The Clintons certainly should not be repaid their loan(s). That money was the symbol of her 'commitment' to her campaign and it should stand as an unpaid debt --- a financial metaphor for the apology she owes the Democratic party. My late husband and I used to revere the Clintons -- no longer.

I have never contributed to a political campaign until now. I canvassed in New Hampshire when he didn't have a chance and he only lost by whisper. I have proudly worn a Barack pin for 10 months and am a Texas-born Latina New Yorker who prays that he will prevail. Full speed ahead to the White House.

Obamanos!

[ljmck]

Thank you for saying something that's been bothering me for a couple of days. I would not be happy to have my donations to Senator Obama handed over to Senator Clinton--to pay the debts she continues to run up while opposing him, to pay for the odious Mark Penn, or to pay off her other high-priced staff. It's especially galling when she's again trying to divide the electorate by race.

I would continue to support Senator Obama because I believe it's vital that he be elected, but I'd be miffed.

Those who are currently donating to Hillary might consider that, at this point, they are putting money back into the pocket of their multi-millionaire candidate rather than electing her. If that's not a fair characterization, I'd like to have it explained to me.

Another question: How long are her current creditors having to wait before they see payment? She's been in debt for several months now. What happens to those folks while her debts mount?

[Dave01]

I agree to an extent. There has been a history of the actual nominee paying off the debt of the second place finisher. 2004 Kerry did it for Edwards.

As far as paying of Clinton's debt, I would ONLY be in favor of paying of the debts she has accumulated with vendors that is outstanding. I would condone paying her back for the "loans" that she has given to her campaign, especially since she is charging her campaign interest for those "loans".

[atila]

i'm pretty sure he is not going to do this and to be honest this looks like another lie from the msm to scare Obama donors....