The Money Honey
Sen. Hillary Clinton confirmed today during a press conference in Arlington that she loaned her campaign $5M last month.
Meanwhile, Howard Wolfson, a Clinton spoksman, told The Page that "the loan illustrates Sen. Clinton’s commitment to this effort and to ensuring that our campaign has the resources it needs to compete and win across this nation."
Here, however, was Bill Clinton in the the Politico Dec. 24, slamming the notion of self-financing during a campaign event in Iowa.
“In response to a question in Cedar Rapids about campaign finance reform, Clinton touched on a possible presidential bid by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. ‘Let’s think of somebody I really admire, the mayor of New York City, Mike Bloomberg,’ Clinton said. ‘I like him; he’s a really good mayor. But if he’s runs for president, he can spend a billion dollars and not miss it. That’s real money to most of us. Under the law, there are no constraints.’ He railed against the Supreme Court for blocking some attempts to limit the influence of money in politics. ‘We are very frustrated because we have a Supreme Court that seems determined to say that the wealthier have more right to free speech than the rest of us.’ And he implied that he would not use his own funds to support his wife's candidacy. ‘For example, they say you couldn’t stop me from spending all the money I’ve saved over the last five years on Hillary’s campaign if I wanted to, even though it would clearly violate the spirit of campaign finance reform,’ he said.”
So much for that. CNN reported in July that Hillary Clinton's net worth is $34.9M.
As for the 'whys' of this move ... Remember, Barack Obama's team reported that they raised $32M in January alone, this in the lead up to the oh so possibly critical Super Tuesday contests.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
All this over just $5 million? Mitt Romney spent an estimated $40 million to $50 million in personal funds to finance his campaign--remember what he spent on the Iowa straw poll alone.
Yet Hillary loaning her campaign $5 million is big news.
I was thinking this was Hillary's campaign, not Bill's. She's raised record amounts; Obama has raised more. She gave a temp loan like John Kerry did, not a gift like Romney.
I think it's fair to report that she loaned her campaign $5 million in the face of Obama's record fundraising, even after her own record fundraising.
I think every other comment is a result of the favorable coverage Barack Obama gets from the media. Money doesn't buy campaigns, as Mitt Romney found out.
FACT: Hillary Clinton has a bit over half the votes that have been cast so far for a Democratic candidate. Over half the states have now voted.
If our primaries were "winner take all" Hillary Clinton would be the nominee right now, just like John McCain is. He got about 35%; she got over 50%. Just some FACTS to think about.
yeah...but this is just one more example where the Clintons say one thing but do another.
Whitewater...Monica Lewinsky...Gennifer Flowers...the list goes on and on.
Could it be there is an issue with the Clintons' self-perceived versions of the "truth"?