MyDD :: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain $11M. Hillary Clinton?

Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain $11M. Hillary Clinton?

by ragekage, Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:11:56 AM EST

... Let's just say she's gonna have to send the kids to live with her sister up in Buffalo for awhile.

On the eve of the Pennsylvania Presidential Primary, we found out that it has become even more important for Senator Clinton to perform over Senator Obama, if she wants to stay in the race for the nomination through June 3rd.

Barack Obama began the month of April with a 5-1 cash advantage over Senator Clinton. Financial reports filed Sunday by the Democratic presidential candidates with the Federal Election Commission show Clinton had $10.3 million in debts at the start of the month and only about $9 million cash on hand for the primaries. Obama reported having $42 million for the primary.

Earlier in the month, Clinton's campaign had stated they'd raised approximately $20 million dollars to Obama's $40 million. Obama's numbers ended up being somewhat greater; $51 million, still short of his $55 million in February.

Nearly half of Clinton's debt is money owed to, you guessed it- Mark Penn. The report shows that the campaign owes $4.6 million to Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates. The campaign has already paid the firm $14 million, including $3 million in March for polling and direct mail.

In some much-needed good news, Clinton spokesman Jay Carson said Clinton's online fundraising is on the rise and noted that the March figures do not include the $2.5 million she raised last week at an Elton John concert in New York. Carson said the event's total sum included money from 6,000 new donors.

The question is, will Clinton be able to continue to run her campaign in the face of this news? Obviously, Pennsylvania is a moot point- we're here, now, it's not like she's going to give up her guns and go home because her campaign's running in the red. But will she be able to competitively compete in Indiana and North Carolina? If Obama soundly wins those two states, will she be able to stay in the race?

We see more math is against Senator Clinton than just the delegate math. She has to overcome this debt before she can ever move forward into a general election; and if she loses or concedes the nomination, she has to overcome this debt before she could start raising money again for a possible run in 2012, or even to retain her Senatorial seat in New York.

However, if there was ever a candidate to overcome this, it's Senator Clinton. Her unique advantage in name recognition, and ability to play the press to her own advantage, means she's down, but not out.

Yet.

Tags: bank, money, Clinton, Obama, broke, FEC (all tags)

Permalink :: 64 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

come on we have had like 4 diaries on this already!

yes she is broke, she has been broke since February!

I hate the repeat posts :(

Congratulations to Barack Obama, the presumptive Presumptive Democratic Nominee

by TruthMatters on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:13:24 AM EST

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

These numbers came in today; hot and fresh. Everything before that came in was approximate, and whatever the campaigns felt like providing for information.

This sucks even more for Clinton, any bad news in the day before the primary tends to parlay out as a hit in the numbers for that candidate.

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:22:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]

May 7th (none / 0)

Quittin' time for Hillary!
Then we can get about the business of crushing McCain.

by ReillyDiefenbach on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 01:03:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Jesus. When he wins what does/can he (none / 0)

do with all of that money? Have to give it back? Save it for 2012? Give it to the starving around the world?

My candidate lost fair and square. So did yours. Get over it and let's kick McSame's ass!

by RLMcCauley on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:15:55 AM EST

If he can't win states with that cash (none / 0)

What does that say for the G.E.?

by catfish1 on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:21:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: If he can't win states with that cash (none / 0)

I don't follow your analogy. It makes no sense.

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:22:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: If he can't win states with that cash (none / 0)

He has won more states but I'm not sure what you're saying. You think performance in the primaries is indicative of performance in the GE? For example, if Hillary was the nominee do you think she'd lost Illinois to McCain?

My candidate lost fair and square. So did yours. Get over it and let's kick McSame's ass!

by RLMcCauley on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:23:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: If he can't win states with that cash (none / 0)

*lose Illinois

My candidate lost fair and square. So did yours. Get over it and let's kick McSame's ass!

by RLMcCauley on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:24:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The states he threw money at (none / 0)

he didn't win.

by catfish1 on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:25:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The states he threw money at (2.00 / 1)

Ahh, so the only metric we're counting is wins with money, not coming back from huge deficits, running a better campaign and ground game, poise for being able to tackle the general election, et cetera.

Good call.

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:30:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The states he threw money at (none / 0)

He might not have won but he close the gap and he's winning overall. He doesn't need to win every round.

So do you think Clinton will lose Illinois to McCain or not?

My candidate lost fair and square. So did yours. Get over it and let's kick McSame's ass!

by RLMcCauley on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:31:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: When he wins what does/can he (none / 0)

Actually, he will just buy influence - that's what he's doing now anyway. So much for a new day for politics :-)

by pan230oh on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:39:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: When he wins what does/can he (2.00 / 1)

That's non-sensical.

My candidate lost fair and square. So did yours. Get over it and let's kick McSame's ass!

by RLMcCauley on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:48:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]

even now... (2.00 / 1)

Penn's fat, micro-trending hand resides comfortably in Clinton's cookie jar.

You haven't seen impatient until you've seen a monkey waiting for a donut.

by bjones on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:19:11 AM EST

Re: even now... (none / 0)

Yeah, that's the worst part. She's still paying him. So think- of that $2.5mil she raised from Elton John, how much goes to Penn, and how much goes to fight in IN and NC?

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:25:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: even now... (none / 0)

My guess? All of it. The campaign has been in debt for months, and they'll continue to spend more than they make. The debt will continue to accrue and spill over.

Clinton's debt to Penn will go on as long as it's possible for the campaign not to pay it.

You haven't seen impatient until you've seen a monkey waiting for a donut.

by bjones on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:37:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

All that money.... (2.00 / 0)

and the polls still favor Hillary. Yikes.

by soyousay on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:24:09 AM EST

Re: All that money.... (none / 0)

You're saying money ought to = win, no matter what? There's no other factors to be concerned with, more important than money? Not that Obama came back from huge deficits with that cash, which is keeping Clinton from making a real comeback?

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:29:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Why is the.... (none / 0)

Obama campaign spending all that money if he didn't think it would help?

Also, I agree that there are other factors besides money that make a difference...like debates.

You asked if Clinton is making a comeback; time will tell but polls are looking good for her.

by soyousay on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:38:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Why is the.... (none / 0)

No, I said Obama's keeping Clinton from ever getting back in the game. If she'd have performed as she did in the first polls in the state- 30, 35 points- she'd have no problem making an argument for winning. But Obama's gonna make it a single-digit came. You act as if that means nothing.

Though, I suppose it makes sense. For Clinton to continue on, it has to mean nothing.

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:43:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I think Hillary's great... (none / 0)

performance and Obama's bad performance in the last debate has turn the tide; we'll see.

by soyousay on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:56:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I think Hillary's great... (none / 0)

In what way? You mean she'll win PA? That was expected. Do you think she'll win NC?

My candidate lost fair and square. So did yours. Get over it and let's kick McSame's ass!

by RLMcCauley on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:59:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Obama.... (none / 0)

thinks Hillary will win PA too? Wow, that's a defeatist attitude.

by soyousay on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 01:25:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama.... (none / 0)

So, I suppose Clinton had better admit she'll win North Carolina, right?

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 01:52:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Why is the.... (none / 0)

Soyousay

Why is the...Obama campaign spending all that money if he didn't think it would help?"

1.they are spending the money to get his name out the there which they are very successful

2.this is a "downpayment" for the GE think of it as planting seeds

3.He is not trying to win PA just shrink her lead as much as possible and he is successful doing that all you have to do is compare the polls from a few months ago and now and you can see how effective he was

John McCain's pick-up line is, 'Did you know that 150 is the new 130?'"

by wellinformed on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:03:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: All that money.... (none / 0)

Not as much as they used to. She has 16 years of name recognition and the establishment behind her.

Anything less than 20 and she's treading water.

My candidate lost fair and square. So did yours. Get over it and let's kick McSame's ass!

by RLMcCauley on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:32:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Playing up expectations... (none / 0)

first it was just double digits, now it's 20. It sounds as if you're worried.

by soyousay on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:44:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Playing up expectations... (none / 0)

Worried? I expect her to win. Anything less than 20 means she won't be able to catch up in the delegate count or pop vote.

My candidate lost fair and square. So did yours. Get over it and let's kick McSame's ass!

by RLMcCauley on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:48:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Playing up expectations... (none / 0)

It was 20 six weeks ago.

by parahammer on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:52:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: All that money.... (none / 0)

That money has dropped the lead by 10-15 points from four weeks ago.

Bring Back MyDD - Just say No to Rec'ing Candidate Diaries.

by CardBoard on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:35:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

Obama was able to close from 18 to 6 in SurveyUSA
in 2 weeks because he had the money to outspend Clinton 3:1.
The DLC money machine is dry.
Obama has had over 1 million donors mostly for the Primary. This list for the GE is what matters.

Obama was able to take all the side show attacks from a candidate much more substantial than McCain and gain significant ground.

"If you want to end war and stuff, you gotta sing loud"...Arlo Guthrie

by nogo war on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:34:11 AM EST

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

fine, i will send my money to her again

Welcome to a Landslide without white Working class, Latinos, Women, Seniors and holding-on sweeties

by engels on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:34:49 AM EST

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

Something tells me Hillary is going to pull in MASSIVE funds starting tomorrow night. :)

by LindaSFNM on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:37:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

Why wouldn't she have been pulling in massive funds all along?

My candidate lost fair and square. So did yours. Get over it and let's kick McSame's ass!

by RLMcCauley on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:49:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

I thought she pulled in massive fundraising after TX/OH, too bad it was funny money for the GE.

by parahammer on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:53:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

From what I recall a lot of what she's bring in is for the GE. I'm not sure why she's not able to tap into the same type of donor base as Obama is though. Clearly she has passionate support online. 10 or 20 bucks from a million HRC supporters would help.

My candidate lost fair and square. So did yours. Get over it and let's kick McSame's ass!

by RLMcCauley on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:58:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

A lot of it is also for her Senate campaign. If you're maxed out for the primary, your donation carries over into the general. If you're maxed out for the general, she's allowed to put it into her 2012 Senate campaign.

It's all reported as one figure.

by Mostly on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:08:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Clinton will get maybe 5 delegates from PA (none / 0)

Not even a dent in Obama's lead. Obama picked up a super today, so there goes 20% of that gain.

by ReillyDiefenbach on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 01:10:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

No problem. But you might as well write the check directly to Mark Penn, IMHO.

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:41:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

You might as well drive to Burston-Marsteller's headquarters and give a hundred dollar bill to the startled receptionist. Make sure to tell her that it's not for Charlie Black.

Hmm. To make sure you better drive to Mark Penn's house and put it directly in his toilet.

I kid. Was that too much?

by Mostly on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:09:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Tru that. (none / 0)

According to her latest FEC filing, nearly half her $10.3 million dollar debt is to Mark Penn.

Ignorance is weakness. Get strong.

by tbetz on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 02:33:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

lol NO, BO enterred April (none / 0)

with 51 Mil, but now that he's spent so much money on his one way marketing conversation (aka tv ads and attack mailers), he probably has so little money left, that explains his whirlwind fundraisers a couple weeks ago.

And who fed this stupid story to the press hoping it would mean something? Voters don't care, and the Super D's know alot better than to fall for this as some sort of carrot.

by LindaSFNM on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:35:41 AM EST

Re: lol NO, BO enterred April (none / 0)

Supers know that raising gobs of money from over 1 million people is important. Voters probably don't care.

My candidate lost fair and square. So did yours. Get over it and let's kick McSame's ass!

by RLMcCauley on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:51:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Actually, BHO has $50 million cash-on-hand. (none / 0)

His donations covered everything he spent in March. It helps when you have nearly 1.4 million individual donors.

Ignorance is weakness. Get strong.

by tbetz on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 02:34:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

...also...isn't McCain still in violation?

"If you want to end war and stuff, you gotta sing loud"...Arlo Guthrie

by nogo war on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:38:19 AM EST

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

Hillary and Bill have overcome debt in the past, obviously.

I am not happy that she paid Mark Penn all that money for crappy work. You know what? It happens. You hire a contractor you trust, the contract does a lousy job. Sometimes you can fire him and sometimes you have to push him to the side.

I think Hillary will be re-negotiating her contract with Penn and get him to reduce his fees. Obama has alot of money, but seriously, what good is it if he can't land the knock-out punch. Hillary will in PA BIG, she will also win IN and WV and KY and MO and PR. After than, what will Obama say about all his money.

Maybe he should send some to McCain since he seems to think McCain would be better than Bush.

by stefystef on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:54:05 AM EST

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

renegotiating with Penn....Hilarious.

by parahammer on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 11:58:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

Missouri? Didn't we already have that contest?

And Indiana is a huge toss-up at this point. She has to win PA big to overcome something like this. And after that, Obama will say he has more grassroots support and runs a far better campaign than Hillary; by leaps and bounds. He'll say twenty years of name reconigiton and building a brand can be fought down, and hard, but not in just three or four months. Heh. The 20-year advantage Clinton had on Obama, and she's been just hanging on by her fingertips.

But, wait, shouldn't Clinton be sending money to McCain for saying he'd be better than Obama?

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:02:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I think the poster was referring to (none / 0)

Montana as MO,

Student Guy=JoeMentum. No really Student Guy=JoeMentum, after all JoeMentum was an embarrassment so is Student Guy. This sig is FAIL!!

by Student Guy on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:06:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I think the poster was referring to (none / 0)

I thought Obama was polling well ahead in MT- Montana

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:09:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: I think the poster was referring to (none / 0)

Montana is what, MT I think?

She's not expected to win that. If she did, that would be a coveted "win in a place you're expected to lose".

by Mostly on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:12:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

RK (none / 0)

I have several comments scatter through out myDD about a few facts I got from the FEC report.

Total March Fundraising in the FEC report (which should be everything or else there are laws being broken) 20.9 million
Total march primary money raised $12 million
Total expenditures in March=22.4 million

Thus march was a net -$1.4 million month and net -10 million in primary money.

Student Guy=JoeMentum. No really Student Guy=JoeMentum, after all JoeMentum was an embarrassment so is Student Guy. This sig is FAIL!!

by Student Guy on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:05:00 PM EST

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

Hillary official stuff
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/f orms/C00431569/335594/

"If you want to end war and stuff, you gotta sing loud"...Arlo Guthrie

by nogo war on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:22:34 PM EST

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

Obama stuff here
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/f orms/C00431445/335552/

in about a half hour is the Obama 1 million in one minute moment..should be interesting.

"If you want to end war and stuff, you gotta sing loud"...Arlo Guthrie

by nogo war on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:25:13 PM EST

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

Where her money went
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/f orms/C00431569/335594/sd/12

"If you want to end war and stuff, you gotta sing loud"...Arlo Guthrie

by nogo war on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:33:48 PM EST

This is all about placing bets. (none / 0)

People are putting their money on Obama.

by Bob Johnson on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 12:59:41 PM EST

Re: Barack Obama has $51M in the bank, John McCain (none / 0)

Anybody else disturbed by the fact that it's legal for her to be in debt to Penn for over 4 million? It just seems like that should be some sort of illegal in-kind campaign contribution. I can't think of any normal business that would allow a creditor to rack up another 2 million in debt in a month after they already owed over 2 million.

Proudly joining the legions of people and states that don't matter on May 20th.

by Obama Independent on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 01:00:33 PM EST

News Flash.... Elite Candidate has more money (none / 0)

Obama the elite candidate has more money than Hillary the working man and woman's candidate.

GASP

SHOCK

WOWZERS

Its that elite money coming in to "EDUCATE" low information voters...

Pity for Obama you can't buy loyalty.

by DTaylor on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 01:42:36 PM EST

Re: News Flash.... Elite Candidate has more money (2.00 / 3)

Heh. Yep, Obama's elite, Clinton's not. Clinton hasn't raised more money from maxed-out donors than any other category combined, and Obama hasn't made more money from under $100 donators vice versa. Taylor, as usual, your logic is stunning, and convincing to all die-hard "LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOUR FACTS" Clinton-supporters. Keep up the good work.

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 01:56:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: News Flash.... Elite Candidate has more money (none / 0)

Mojo for "LALALA"

I gave $10 in the "million dollar minute" did you?

John McCain: Four More Years of Failure.

by dannybauder on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 02:20:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: News Flash.... Elite Candidate has more money (none / 0)

I delved into my meager cash reserves and donated $125. I'm gonna be hurtin', in a, oh boy, more ramen noodles way... but I feel strongly it's worth it.

Hooray for John McCain!

by ragekage on Mon Apr 21, 2008 at 02:43:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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