There are ruminations about Obama Inc. paying off the debt that Clinton racked up during her irresponsible, irrational and outrageous bid for the presidency post-February. My thoughts, in a word: absolutely not.
Many pundits and analysts are floating the idea that Obama could pay down Clinton’s debt as a way to find resolution to the campaign’s ending. This is simply not acceptable on so many levels. Where to begin...
First, The Clinton’s made 109 million. They can cover the outstanding debt they accrued. Too friggin bad if she loses out. When people gamble and open a business, Wal-Mart does not come in and say, oh, okay, we will pay your debts. They earned the money over the years and there is no reason they cannot continue to earn. She gambled and lost—that is life for most Americans. Ironically, the champion of the middle and working class does not get this concept.
Second, the debt was accrued because of poor money management, poor planning and poor decision making. In short, she is in pretty hefty debt because her campaign was a disaster from a logistical and organizational sense. Obama does not owe her for her shortcomings as a decision maker—as an executive. She chose Penn, not him. Maybe Colombia could help pay it down?
Third, the debt was accrued during the slop sink strategy. That was not a kitchen sink strategy—kitchens are clean. While HRC and Co. were busy throwing the shitty water, dirty brillo pads and mildew drenched mop heads at Obama, he moved on with his campaign in the way he started. It is not his fault they tried to shitty him up in pursuit of power. It is not his role to come in with the Bleach and clean up their mess, financially speaking.
Fourth, that money she wants—11.4 million—has too many possible uses. Some have argued that paying off her debt would be positive because it will get her out sooner. The crux of this argument is that he will end up spending the money in the primary against her, so he will be spending it either way. This may very well be true, but rather than give her money she is going to bank, why not use the money to further build a grassroots organization in the remaining states? Why not use the money to reach out to potential supporters in a different way? Giving her 11.4 million is waste of resources. 11.4 million can buy a lot of office space, fliers, hall rentals, etc...That money needs to be used to lay the groundwork for November, not pay off an irresponsible spender.
Fifth, paying Clinton off would be a prime example of the politics that Obama has been stressing against. It is an old party trick, an old party game and an old party way of doing business. This act would be the height of hypocrisy. He owes Hillary nothing—nothing. Not the VP slot, not an apology for destroying her dream and conquest, not a place in the Cabinet and certainly not money that she loaned herself in the pursuit of attempting to destroy him. At best, he owes her an olive branch to bring unity at the convention. Barack must stand firm against these types of politics, lest he stifle the very movement he has inspired.
Lastly, that is not Barack’s money. He was given that money by small donors. The average contribution is, I think, roughly $100. Those of us who have given to his campaign want to see the money used to move forward—to lay more groundwork in order to build a stronger coalition. Many of those who contributed, including me, could not really afford to do so, but we did because we knew and know that to not do so would be a mistake in the long run. I have never given to a campaign until this one. Many have said the same. If we felt bad for HRC or we felt it necessary to help her pay off her reckless pursuit, we would have given her the loot. But we did not. We gave it to the Obama camp to help push the movement forward—to give resources to a man who has the potential to raise an entire country up. I love Obama and always have, mostly because I respect his non-politician aura. I will lose a ton of respect for him if he uses even a penny of the money I donated to pay of Clinton’s debt.
If Hillary wants to pay her debts off, let Bill speak some more. She can write another book. She can ask Wolfson for some of the money he will get upfront for his book. Hell, she can write another book on how not to run a campaign (the antithesis of an Alinsky essay). Go ask the DLC. Ask the fundraisers who threatened Pelosi to foot your bill. Go to Rendell and let the PA machine may for her machinations. I do not give a damn where she gets the money. But it better not come from loyal Obama supporters who have nothing to give but do so, and everything to gain for doing so.
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