Senator Obama raised $52 million in June this year, his second-best monthly haul. Even the DNC did reasonably well (for the DNC!) In the mean time, some Clinton supporters say they will find it easier to help Senator Obama ONLY if Obama helps Clinton pay off her debts. Not to mention pressuring Obama to pick Senator Clinton as his VP.
A couple things. The Clinton debt figure touted is around $22 million. Senator Clinton has apparently asked the public not to help alleviate her personal loans - $11 million - to her campaign, which is a good start (a la Mitt Romney!)
However, much of the remaining debt - as much as $5 million - is actually owed to Mark Penn! I mean, Mark friggin' Penn!! The guy who might be, short of the Clintons, solely responsible for her defeat! The guy who devised the message(s) - and ran the polls needed to check if his message was working! Talk about a conflict of interest... Not to mention sheer incompetence and short-sightedness. I see absolutely no reason to help that portion of Senator Clinton's debt. Nor should Mark Penn expect any of it to be paid. So really, if anything, the Clinton debt that needs to be paid off is closer to $5 million.
But I'd take issue with this entirely - does Obama really have to help pay off the debts accumulated due to Senator Clinton's campaign mismanagement? The very debts accumulated to try and show Obama as unelectable and inexperienced, during a seemingly-never-ending campaign that appears to have ended with plenty of supporters on both Democratic sides bitter, and with some Clinton supporters either refusing to vote in November or even supporting John McCain?
As for PUMAs, Hillaryis44 and other such nuts - grow up. Far from Obama's supporters forming a cult of personality, it is people like these Clinton supporters who are Kool-Aid drinking cultists. From what I read, apparently Obama choosing a female-VP-not-named-Clinton would be an insult to Senator Clinton, and would result in a major backlash. Why, are there no other competent legislators who happen to be women out there? Governors Janet Napolitano and Kathleen Sibelius, Senators Blanche Lincoln and Amy Klobuchar, not to mention Speaker Nancy Pelosi - are these all incompetent, just-plain-lucky, undeserving legislators? Just because they didn't run for President doesn't diminish their capabilities. And as I have said earlier, Senator Clinton's performance in arguably the two most important endeavors of her career - universal health care in the early '90s and her Presidential campaign - have been incredibly subpar for someone described by her devotees as hypercompetent and highly accomplished. So I have no idea why Senator Obama should pick her as his VP, to placate her childish, immature supporters.
[Edit: Actually, I do - read the comments below. Senator Clinton would be a competent, able deputy, but I don't like blackmail. Also, not all Clinton-supporters are childish/immature PUMAs, thankfully.]
Can't you tell I am feeling just peachy today?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I supported Hillary Clinton and thought she would be a great president. The day after Mr. Obama secured the nomination, I, still grieving, went online and gave him a donation. I would like to think that other Hillary supporters like myself contributed to making June a near record-breaking fundraising month for Obama.
I agree that Mark (expletive) Penn does not deserve a penny. Perhaps we can convince McCain to hire him on. Sell it as a way to "woo Hillary supporters."
p.s. I am reading your blog via Pollster.com. I liked your reply to the republican commenters there.
Hi:
Glad there are many Clinton supporters like you, otherwise Obama would not be ahead in the polls.
As perhaps you could tell, I was pretty mad when I wrote this post, after reading a few news articles about PUMAs. Thankfully, they are a minority, but they are (I believe) a large part of the difference between a 2% Obama lead and a 15% Obama lead...
I admire Senator Clinton, and for a while, really wanted her to become the first female POTUS. But:
http://randomsubu.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-personal-take-on-us-presidential.html
I think there's still a good chance Obama will pick Clinton as VP, but that should be because she'd be a competent VP (and she would be), not due to blackmail by PUMAs, Hillaryis44 and such others.
http://randomsubu.blogspot.com/2008/06/senator-obamas-vp-pick-senator-clinton.html
Good idea about making McCain hire Penn!
Best,
RS
Post a Comment