Hillary Rodham Clinton person ally lent her cash-strapped cam paign $5 million late last month, and some top staffers are now going without pay, officials ac knowledged yesterday.
The moves were revealed as Clinton and Barack Obama hun kered down for a war of attrition for the Democratic nomination after Super Tuesday failed to crown a winner. And a series of contests in the coming weeks seem likely to favor the Illinois senator.
“My opponent was able to raise more money, and we in tended to be competitive and we were. I think the results last night proved the wisdom of my investment,” Clinton told re porters yesterday, after spokesman Howard Wolfson confirmed the loan.
At a stop in Iowa in December, Bill Clinton raised the issue of funding his wife’s campaign. He told a crowd, “They say you couldn’t stop me from spending all the money I’ve saved over the last five years if I wanted to, even though it would clearly violate the spirit of campaign-finance reform.”
But yesterday Hillary Clinton made clear what the source of the $5 million was.
“From my money – that’s where I got the money,” she quipped.
Pressed on whether she was prepared to go beyond her initial $5 million payout, Clinton demurred and said, “I’m just going to leave it.” But she is said to be weighing an additional loan.
Officials confirmed that some staffers have “voluntarily chosen to work without pay this month,” including campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle – a move that echoes one by Rudy Giuliani’s campaign last month when it hit the skids.
The development signaled serious problems in terms of resources, and could complicate fund-raising in the days to come as Clinton does battle in major states like Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania.
Within hours of Clinton’s announcement, Obama’s campaign manager sent out a fund-raising appeal by e-mail, saying the campaign had raised more than $3 million since Tuesday night and adding, “We have no choice – we must match their $5 million right now.”
The Clintons’ personal fortune is estimated between $10 million and $50 million, according to financial-disclosure forms. The couple’s riches are due to advances and book sales from Bill and Hill’s respective memoirs, and Bill’s ton’s highly lucrative turn on the lecture circuit.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Bill Clinton was due to receive a payout as large as $20 million as he disentangled from a financial deal with billionaire Ron Burkle, although sources said that deal hasn’t been cut yet.
But the New York senator’s answer yesterday firmly indicated she was drawing from her own pool of cash, which includes more than $7 million in a book advance for “Living History,” and more than $3.5 million in royalties.
The timing of the loan was in the final weeks before Super Tuesday, as Sen. Clinton was battling for delegate-rich states against Obama.
Sources said there was little debate about it, and that “she just did it when it was clear we needed it.”
“The loan illustrates Sen. Clinton’s commitment to this effort and to ensuring that our campaign has the resources it needs to compete and win across this nation,” said Wolfson, who addressed the issue after it was raised on a conference call yesterday morning by a reporter.
“We have had one of our best fund-raising efforts ever on the Web today, and our Super Tuesday victories will only help in bringing more support for her candidacy.”
Sources said Clinton had raised close to $1 million on the Internet since Tuesday night.
Her supporters pointed to a new Gallup national poll showing she’d bumped up to a 13-point lead over Obama, 52 percent to 39 percent.
Clinton’s fund-raising for January paled in comparison to Obama’s – he raised $32 million to her $13.5 million.
“He’s got a huge advantage in that he is the Internet candidate,” said one Clinton campaign source, referring to Obama’s ability to raise bucks on the Web.