Dan

Calabrese

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July 12, 2008

Some Feminist: Debt-Ridden Hillary Wants the Man to Pick Up the Check

How long ago it seems that supposedly rational Democrats were calling for Hillary Clinton to exit the presidential race, arguing that the math simply couldn’t work out for her to win the nomination, and that she was standing in the way of party unity.

The reply from Hillary’s supporters? “Sexist! It’s not over! Why should she have to quit? You wouldn’t tell a man to quit!”

They scoffed at the notion that a prolonged primary campaign would work against party unity going into the general election campaign. And Hillary did not exit the race until days after Barack Obama had mathematically clinched the nomination, and even then only after being told the cold, hard facts by supporters who refused to indulge her any further in the fantasy that she could somehow find a way to win.

So. Now it’s July and Democrats are united behind Obama. No harm done by Hillary’s delayed exit, right?

Not so fast.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that Obama’s fundraising team is under excruciating pressure to not only raise the exorbitant sum needed to finance Obama’s campaign, but also to come up with an additional $10 million to allow Hillary to retire her own campaign debt. To get a sense of what a challenge this is, consider that Obama opted out of federal financing for his campaign on the theory that he can raise far more than the $85 million limit to which John McCain will be subjected by accepting federal funds.

Obama’s campaign may have more cash than McCain’s, but the advantage is offset somewhat by the fact that national parties can also spend money on behalf of their nominees, and the Republican National Committee has far more cash on hand than the Democratic National Committee. So Obama’s campaign believes it has to raise $450 million to make Obama’s opt-out decision pay off.

Adding an additional $10 million to the fundraising goal in order to bail out a primary opponent who failed, and whose failure was obvious – inevitable, you might say – as early as March, only adds to the pressure and, for some, the resentment these fundraisers are feeling.

In the meantime, McCain’s fundraising is kicking into high gear. He raised $25 million in June – his best fundraising month yet – while the Post reports that Obama’s fundraising sank from a high of $55 million in February to just $22 million in May. From this point forward, Obama will have to work much harder than McCain on fundraising because McCain can look forward to an $85 million check from the federal Treasury, and Obama cannot.

So why should Hillary have quit? Because she had no chance to win, and the continuation of her campaign was little more than a futile and very expensive refusal to recognize that fact. What’s more, she was woefully incapable of coming up with the money to bankroll this futile exercise – a shortcoming she now expects Obama’s supporters to pay for.

There are conflicting reports about whether this has exacerbated tension between the Obama and Clinton camps. But what is undeniably true – the numbers don’t lie – is that Hillary’s prolonged personal indulgence is now making it harder for Obama to do the one thing he most needs to do to win, which is to outspend McCain like mad.

So Hillary spent money she didn’t have on something that didn’t work, and now expects others to cover the bill. At least we won’t have to deal with a President Hillary Clinton doing the exact same thing with our dollars. And maybe, because of the added burden she is creating, we won’t have to worry about a President Obama doing it either.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

This is Column # DC186. Request permission to publish here.