Okay, so I am not the biggest fan of Hillary Clinton, but I did feel some pity for her when she made her closing remarks at the debates with Barack Obama last night. I felt that she genuinely cares about the plight of the American people, in her own slightly misguided way. I was a little surprised to read a New York Times article about the fact that her campaign finances are indeed troubling. I guess this is a telling sign that the end of her campaign draws near, but more damning is the correlation with how she would govern as Commander-in-Chief.
Reality Check
My thinking is that if she cannot perform fiscal responsibility in her own campaign, with all the “best” advisers she could possibly afford, then how can I really trust her to be the President. Not that I am holding her to a higher standard that the current moron in the White House, but she said she was ready to lead in all facets on day one. Senator Clinton’s latest campaign finance report, published Wednesday night, appeared even to her most stalwart supporters and donors to be a road map of her political and management failings. I believe that Mrs. Clinton’s spending priorities amounted to costly errors in judgment that have hamstrung her competitiveness against Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. This again severely calls into question her ability to exercise fiscal responsibility as President.
A little background on her campaign finance woes……
The lavish spending of her campaign for the month of January includes:
- Nearly $100,000 went for party platters and groceries, plus shovels (it did not snow) before the Iowa caucuses, even though she lost handily;
- Rooms at the Bellagio luxury hotel in Las Vegas consumed more than $25,000 and the Four Seasons, another $5,000. Top consultants collected about $5 million in January;
- Mrs. Clinton paid to $275,000 to Sunrise Communications, a South Carolina firm that was supposed to turn out black voters for her and collected nearly $800,000 in total from her campaign. She was beaten by Obama in a landslide;
- The campaign spent more than $11,000 on pizza and $1,200 on Dunkin’ Donuts runs, which are small amounts, but they add up quickly.
Final Words
I could go on and on, but it shows that had they reined in their bad spending habits, Mrs. Clinton would have had more resources to compete against Obama in a more effective manner. I wonder if all that money she bragged about raising and the fact that she had to loan her campaign money were all in vain. In essence, her high-priced advisers embarked on a strategy that failed miserably in many regards. In my opinion, they owe her money for the mess they all created. I am sure Barack Obama’s campaign is spending lavishly, but they have something to show for it. I think Hillary Clinton ran her campaign, in the early stages at least, as though it would only last a few months because she expected that the nomination was all hers. Boy, was she wrong.
Candidates release January fundraising details
Filed under: Barack Obama, Campaign Finance, Hillary Clinton, Presidential Elections
Black Political Thought 