“Could Money Woes Eventually Force Clinton from the Race?”, Stumper, April 3, 2008 “Clinton’s Cash Woes Continue,” Stumper, April 21, 2008 It’s clear from Clinton’s FEC filings that she’s barely breaking even. Even though the New York senator raised more than $20 million in March, and reports having more than $30 million in cash on hand, she’s only allowed to use $8 million of that war chest against Barack Obama in the Democratic primary… With more than $10 million in debt, Clinton is technically in the red, and she’s spending money as fast as it comes in ($22 million disbursed in March versus $20 million raised). Meanwhile, Obama has $51 million in his vault–with a full $45 million available for the primary. Going forward, this matters… It’s not that money determines electoral outcomes. Obama massively outspent Clinton in Texas and Ohio and still lost the primaries; Clinton will likely win Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia and Puerto Rico despite the dinero differential. But pecuniary perceptions are important… “If Clinton is perceived to be in financial peril, she becomes a much less attractive investment for donors deciding where to give their money”… As the clock ticks down, Clinton will have fewer chances to gain delegates and votes, and Obama will appear more and more inevitable. Wins in Indiana and North Carolina on May 6–hardly a sure thing, but possible–would only accelerate that process. All of which is to say that if Obama “looks like the nominee” at some point before the convention, Clinton’s financial intake may flatline. In that case, she probably won’t have the rainy-day money necessary to keep fighting (unless it’s more of her own).
“Short of Cash, Clinton is Forced to Cut Spending,” New York Times, May 9, 2008 Mrs. Clinton’s diminished political momentum, following Tuesday’s loss in the North Carolina primary and her narrow victory in Indiana, appears to have had a dampening effect on her fund-raising, aides said, increasing the likelihood that Mrs. Clinton will lend her campaign more of her own money beyond the $11 million she has already provided. Clinton advisers said Mrs. Clinton was committed to spending more of her own cash on the campaign if necessary… Mrs. Clinton had been increasingly relying on Internet donations this spring from new and small-amount contributors; the day after she won the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, the campaign brought in a record $10 million online. But Hassan Nemazee, one of Mrs. Clinton’s national finance chairmen, put the amount she collected online in the 24 hours after the Indiana and North Carolina primaries at only “$1 million-plus” … Top fund-raisers working for Mrs. Clinton said that enthusiasm among donors had fallen sharply and that they had little confidence there would be a financial turnaround. They said that some donors had questioned why they should give more money when another set of numbers — the calculus to win enough delegates for the nomination — seemed so against Mrs. Clinton at this point.
In other words, the “rainy day” has finally arrived–and for Clinton, the only money left is “more of her own.”
