|
There are many ways to pay off campaign debts — cajoling
phone calls, begging letters — but Bill Clinton believes that he has come up
with a better method to wipe out the financial obligations outstanding from
his wife’s failed presidential bid.
He is raffling himself. In an e-mail sent to millions of people who
supported Hillary Clinton’s White House campaign, the former President asks:
“How would you like the chance to come up to New York and spend the day with
me?” For those who would like the One-Day-With-Bill prize, an online
donation of as little as $5 (£3) will buy them the chance.
By 2007, seven years after leaving the White House, the Clintons had earned
a combined $109 million (£73 million) through speaking engagements and
bestselling memoirs. Even so, apparently they would prefer American voters
to settle Mrs Clinton’s remaining $771,000 debt rather than paying it
themselves.
“Hillary’s campaign still has a few vestiges of debt that I know she would
like to see paid in full. Will you reach out today to help Hillary this one
last time?” Mr Clinton asks. In her marathon battle against Barack Obama Mrs
Clinton’s debts peaked at $25.2 million. More than $13 million of that she
lent to her own campaign — a huge sum that she will never recoup.
|
