 Obama to help Clinton pay election debt
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-28 07:26 Barack Obama announced that he will help pay off Hillary Rodham Clinton's more than $20 million debt, personally writing a check in a gesture meant to win over her top financial backers. Obama met with more than 200 of Clinton's biggest fundraisers on Thursday at Washington's Mayflower Hotel, the first step in a two-day push to bring her supporters onboard his general election campaign. Behind the scenes, the two sides were negotiating her future involvement with the campaign. Some Clinton donors had been frustrated that the Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting had not done more to help her pay the bills even as they are expected to help fund his campaign. Obama received a standing ovation from the crowd of more than 200 when he said he would enlist his supporters to help pay off her debt. "I'm going to need Hillary by my side campaigning during his election, and I'm going to need all of you," Obama said. In a symbolic gesture, Obama delivered a personal check for $4,600, for himself and his wife, Michelle. The maximum individual donation allowed by law is $2,300. Obama finance chair Penny Pritzker also wrote a $4,600 check for herself and her husband. Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe had it in his pocket and showed it to reporters waiting outside. Clinton's debt includes $12 million of her own money. She has said she is not asking for help paying that back. She told her donors they must make electing Obama a priority, as she acknowledged that hard feelings remain on both sides. "But we are a family, and we have an opportunity now to really demonstrate clearly we do know what's at stake, and we will do whatever it takes to try to win back this White House," Clinton said. Obama asked the donors for their support, but recognized their hearts may remain with her. But he added, "Senator Clinton and I at our core agree deeply that this country needs to change." Clinton and Obama appeared together publicly for the first time since the end of the primary on Friday in symbolic Unity, New Hampshire, where each got 107 votes in the state's January primary. Clinton won New Hampshire in an upset that set the stage for their long campaign, and it is now a critical battleground for the general election. The rally is the first time the former rivals have shared a stage in public since Obama clinched the Democratic nomination and began trying to mend the rifts caused by their epic 16-month campaign struggle. Agencies (China Daily 06/28/2008 page11) |
