First of all, we all need to chill out.
There have been many diaries and comments today about this subject.
People have been freaking out because they think their small donations would be used to help retire her debt.
That's not going to happen, and I'll tell you why.
First of all, assuming that Obama wants to help Senator Clinton retire her debt, which I'm not sure will happen, there are laws that he has to follow.
Under federal campaign finance law, the Obama campaign cannot directly
pay off Clinton's debts, or the $11.43 million she has loaned the campaign,
because that would violate campaign contribution limits. But if Obama is the
nominee, he and his donor base could provide invaluable help to her in
raising money through signed appeals, joint fundraisers and by other
methods.
link
The law says:
Any person who was a candidate and has a campaign debt from an election that has ended may solicit funds and hold fundraisers to retire the campaign debt
.
The contributions received shall be treated as campaign contributions to the person's previous campaign, and all campaign contribution limits shall continue to apply.
Which means that there still is a $2300 limit.
And the most important part of the law is:
Contributors shall be given notice that the campaign contributions are for the purpose of retiring a campaign debt. Any invitation to or notice of a fundraiser to retire a campaign debt of a previous campaign shall state that the funds are to retire a campaign debt.
According to the Federal Election Commission, candidates are not obligated to pay off debts from a past presidential campaign before starting a new one.
It is not uncommon for losing political campaigns to delay paying their bills or sometimes default on payments entirely. Although it angers vendors, many of whom run relatively small operations with tight cash flow.
Other would-be presidential contenders over the years have found themselves hamstrung in campaign debt. Former Ohio Democratic Sen. John Glenn took years to pay off $3 million in debt from his failed 1984 presidential campaign.
Usually I wouldn't ask, but please recommend this diary. So many people were freaking out today, I just want the correct information to get out there. Some were saying that they were going to stop donating to Obama because they were scared their donations would go to Hillary.