Governor Bill Richardson will host fundraisers to help Clinton retire campaign debt

[DeepModem Mom]

CNN: July 30, 2008
Richardson to help Clinton retire campaign debt
From CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

(CNN) – Is Bill Richardson about to kiss and make up with the Clintons? It certainly looks that way. The New Mexico governor announced Wednesday that he will host two fundraisers to help Sen. Hillary Clinton retire more than $20 million in outstanding campaign debt accumulated during her failed White House bid.

"Governor Richardson's efforts reinforce Senator Obama's commitment to unifying the Democratic Party and assisting Senator Clinton's effort to retire her campaign debt," Bill Burton, a spokesman for Barack Obama’s campaign, said in a statement released by Richardson.

Richardson, who served as secretary of Energy in Bill Clinton’s administration, decided to endorse the Illinois senator, now the presumptive Democratic nominee. The move was viewed as an act of betrayal by some longtime supporters of the Clintons. CNN Political Analyst James Carville, who has long and deep ties to both Clintons, even likened Richardson’s endorsement to Judas’s betrayal of Christ....

In the statement from Richardson, Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand said, "Senator Clinton is grateful for Governor Richardson's and Senator Obama's efforts to assist with retiring her campaign debt and she is looking forward to continuing to campaign for Senator Obama and help ensure victory for Democrats throughout the country this fall." Senator Clinton will attend both invitation-only events in New Mexico in mid-August.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/30/richardson-to-help-clinton-retire-campaign-debt/

[stray cat]

1. Judas! oh wait.......

[my3boyz]

2. He is a good one. I would tell her and Bill to go to hell. Especially Bill!

They allowed that snake of a friend Carville to attack Richardson's character.

[StevieM]

11. Right, because Hillary controls the words of all 300 million Americans, and James Carville is

especially known for taking marching orders and saying or not saying what people tell him to.

Steve

[gateley]

3. This is good.

But will somebody tell me WHY she can't use some of the funds she raised and earmarked for the GE? I think it would be fair to her -- it's essentially her money if her supporters okay it, right? :shrug:

[Motown_Johnny]

4. There are limits on how much you can donate to the campaign, The money "earmarked' for the GE

is from people who have already donated the maximum to her primary bid, and then gave more than that to help with the GE,

Using the GE money to pay off primary debts would be a violation of the limits placed on donations.








As I understand it, i am no expert.

[gateley]

5. Oh - okay -- that makes sense. Thanks - I'll get off that particular soapbox! nt

[jobycom]

6. There's more to this than people see.

Obama's primary supporters have paid their limit to Obama, but can donate to Clinton's primary campaign. In exchange, Clinton releases her donors and fundraisers to give to Obama's general election fund. So, Obama's donors can't give any more to Obama, but can give to Clinton. In exchange, Clinton's donors can give to Obama's general election fund instead of helping Clinton pay off her debt, since they haven't reached their limit in donations to Obama.

It's not coordinated, but that's why Obama agreed to help her pay her debt. It wasn't to make nice, it was a practical fund-raising decision.

[Vinca]

7. I bet Richardson is going to be VP.

Or is at least seriously being considered. Time to mend fences.

[trewsx11]

9. Richardson as VP = Obama loses Michigan

[DevonRex]

8. That's pretty nice of him and I'm glad he's doing it. Time for

everyone to let go of the primary wars once and for all. And I'd be in his corner for VP if his debating skills improved.

[tishaLA]

10. that's really good of him

accomplishes two goals. Very smart.