Campaign-Finance Questions

What money raised by whom can be used for what?

(Simple, no?)

For instance, Obama has a pile of money right now. Should he win the primary, what happens to it? Can he apply that immediately to his campaign vs. McCain? Is every dollar that he uses to fight Clinton at this point a dollar that he could have spent targeting McCain? When does the DNC’s money come into play?

What about if he loses the nomination? (Unlikely, yes, but say, a scandal followed by a massive superdelegate defection to Clinton.) What happens to all of the money he has raised?

And what about Clinton? She loaned her campaign several million dollars. If she loses the nomination, can she ever recover that money? And if she wins the nomination, where would those dollars come from–individual donors, the DNC, etc.?

Anyone?

If she loses the nomination, she will still be the Senior Senator from one of the largest states, New York, and a power in the Senate. There will be lots of lobbyist-type who will still want to contribute to her ex-campaign.

As well as many supporters (30-40% of democrats) who will also presumably be willing to help retire her campaign debt.

Finally, if she pays off all the bills except her own loans, and then just shuts down the campaign, those become ‘bad loans’, which she can deduct on her income taxes.