# how would Obama pay off Clinton's debts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 28, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886 "2008-05-28T15:22:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/1 "2008-05-28T15:22:48Z")
Some analysts believe Clinton will want Obama to help pay off her campaign’s debts including her personal loans to her campaign. How does this work legally? If he asks his donors to help her out, won’t those amounts that go towards their total federal election caps? Can he also simply transfer money from his campaign to hers? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/2 "2008-05-28T16:22:16Z")
Obama could lend her money at an interest rate that’s better than what she’s paying elsewhere, although based on my limited understanding of campaign finance law he would need to be very careful in doing so as any loan that appears suspiciously “sweetheart” could be construed by the FEC as a campaign contribution. Not sure what you mean by “total federal election caps.” If you mean the limit that a donor may give to a political campaign, that limit is on a per-candidate basis. Any legal donor may give up to the federal limit, IIRC $2200, to any and every candidate. So the amount that an Obama donor has given him has no effect on how much that same donor could give her. Obama can transfer money from his campaign to hers, subject to the same donor limits as everyone else. IOW, $2200. Not much of a dent in her campaign debt. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/3 "2008-05-28T16:25:56Z")
If she were picked as his running mate could the two campaigns pool together there assests and debt responsibilities? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/4 "2008-05-28T17:52:17Z")
I had heard that Obama could set up a fund where is donors could direct their donations to Hillary. This makes sense to me because I sure don’t want my donation going to Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/5 "2008-05-28T18:41:10Z")
He pays off all her debts, but then she has to mow his lawn 800,000 times, wash his car 200,000 times and take out the trash from the White House without complaining about it for the next 600 years. ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/6 "2008-05-28T21:32:12Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Obama could lend her money at an interest rate that’s better than what she’s paying elsewhere, although based on my limited understanding of campaign finance law he would need to be very careful in doing so as any loan that appears suspiciously “sweetheart” could be construed by the FEC as a campaign contribution. Not sure what you mean by “total federal election caps.” If you mean the limit that a donor may give to a political campaign, that limit is on a per-candidate basis. Any legal donor may give up to the federal limit, IIRC $2200, to any and every candidate. So the amount that an Obama donor has given him has no effect on how much that same donor could give her. Obama can transfer money from his campaign to hers, subject to the same donor limits as everyone else. IOW, $2200. Not much of a dent in her campaign debt. [/QUOTE] I think there are total caps for all donations to federal races in a year. I.e., you can not give $2,200 in every federal race. I could be wrong about that. It’s been 8 years since I studied this issue…ah, memory. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/7 "2008-05-28T21:34:03Z")
[QUOTE=drhess] Some analysts believe Clinton will want Obama to help pay off her campaign’s debts including her personal loans to her campaign. [/QUOTE] 😕 Strangest thing I have ever heard of. How is Obama on the hook in any way for Clinton’s campaign debts? ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/8 "2008-05-28T21:57:53Z")
I’d tell her to shove it. “In tens of millions of debt? Well then you should have dropped out when we asked you to. Not our fault you couldn’t raise money…well actually it was, but…” I mean what’s she going to do? Trash him in the media for not paying off HER debt? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/9 "2008-05-28T22:04:51Z")
[QUOTE=bordelond] 😕 Strangest thing I have ever heard of. How is Obama on the hook in any way for Clinton’s campaign debts? [/QUOTE] I am as lost as you are. It makes no sense whatsoever to me. Why would any politician anywhere contemplate such a thing? Even if he is awash in extra cash, shouldn’t he find a more worthy cause than Hillary? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/10 "2008-05-29T03:48:15Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] I am as lost as you are. It makes no sense whatsoever to me. Why would any politician anywhere contemplate such a thing? Even if he is awash in extra cash, shouldn’t he find a more worthy cause than Hillary? [/QUOTE] Hillary has the power to continue to wreak havoc on the Democratic Party if she decides to stay in the race past the last primaries. A cash infusion from Obama could be made part of some back room negotiation to get her to drop out and endorse him well in advance of the convention. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/11 "2008-05-29T08:13:59Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] He pays off all her debts, but then she has to mow his lawn 800,000 times, wash his car 200,000 times and take out the trash from the White House without complaining about it for the next 600 years. [/QUOTE] In wet short shorts. And a white t-shirt gathered up in a knot just below her ample ta-tas. While Obama gets to drag a keg out to the WH driveway and invite his friends. What? ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/12 "2008-05-29T08:46:16Z")
[QUOTE=drhess] Some analysts believe Clinton will want Obama to help pay off her campaign’s debts including her personal loans to her campaign. [/QUOTE] Those analysts must be idiots. For Clinton to essentially threaten to undermine Obama’s campaign as a way to extort money from him would be political suicide. She’d never do it. The fact is, once Obama is the official nominee Clinton _has_ to be 100% supportive or be branded a traitor by the Democratic Party. Plus there’s the fact that she actually _wants_ Obama to beat McCain, because Obama’s politics are _much_ closer to her own. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/13 "2008-05-29T08:51:29Z")
Furthermore, for Obama to basically pay off Clinton to drop out would arguably be political suicide for _him_. I’m an Obama supporter and I like his politics _far_ better than McCain’s, but I’d have a hard time bringing myself to vote for someone who’d do something as spineless as that. Clinton has no real leverage, because if she’s even the slightest bit sincere in any of her political convictions then she must desperately want McCain to lose. Once it reaches the point where she believes she’s genuinely hurting the chances of putting a Democrat back in the White House, she’ll drop out. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/14 "2008-05-29T09:37:28Z")
Obama could help Clinton with debt burden and still get his supporters votes no problem. The alternative would be voting for McCain or not voting. What kind of democrat would do that? Sure, she would support him without his help. But at what level? Face it, she has an almost 50% lock on the democratic votes for nomination. Obama is no more running away with a sweeping mandate for the party than George Bush did for the country in the last two elections. She has some leverage and to deny that is to deny reality. What’s she is after is the VP nod because even though a few people may not like it and change their voting stance, the vast majority would accept it and move on to fight the republicans. Their real enemy. So, under the current laws he can direct his contributors to donate to her campaign and provide low interest loans. Would he be able to provide more assistance to a running mate? Could help McCain out with his debt under these same laws! Now that would be crazy! ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/15 "2008-05-29T12:22:27Z")
[QUOTE=drhess] I think there are total caps for all donations to federal races in a year. I.e., you can not give $2,200 in every federal race. I could be wrong about that. It’s been 8 years since I studied this issue…ah, memory. [/QUOTE] Per the [FEC](http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/citizens.shtml): > [@FEC](#): > > An individual may give a maximum of: > > $2,300 per election to a Federal candidate or the candidate’s campaign committee.2 Notice that the limit applies separately to each election. Primaries, runoffs and general elections are considered separate elections. > $5,000 per calendar year to a PAC. This limit applies to a PAC (political action committee) that supports Federal candidates. (PACs are neither party committees nor candidate committees. Some PACs are sponsored by corporations and unions–trade, industry and labor PACs. Other PACs, often ideological, do not have a corporate or labor sponsor and are therefore called nonconnected PACs.) PACs use your contributions to make their own contributions to Federal candidates and to fund other election-related activities. > $10,000 per calendar year to a State or local party committee. A State party committee shares its limits with local party committees in that state unless a local committee’s independence can be demonstrated. > $28,500 per calendar year to a national party committee. This limit applies separately to a party’s national committee, House campaign committee and Senate campaign committee. > $108,200 total biennial limit. This biennial limit places a ceiling on your total contributions, as explained below. > $100 in currency (cash) to any political committee. (Anonymous cash contributions may not exceed $50.) Contributions exceeding $100 must be made by check, money order or other written instrument. ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/16 "2008-05-29T13:54:25Z")
Thanks, Otto. Everybody else: please stay on topic. Pretty please? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/17 "2008-06-01T06:36:03Z")
[QUOTE=drhess] Some analysts believe Clinton will want Obama to help pay off her campaign’s debts including her personal loans to her campaign. How does this work legally? If he asks his donors to help her out, won’t those amounts that go towards their total federal election caps? Can he also simply transfer money from his campaign to hers? Thanks. [/QUOTE] Obama can’t shift excess resources to her nor can he make below market interest loans to her campaign fund. Obama has a lot of donors who have maxed out what they can do for him. But they haven’t maxed out to the Clinton campaign. Obama could easily ask his donors to toss a few bucks to Clinton to get her debts paid down. That’s essentially how it would work. I guess the theory is that making nice with the Clinton’s will help get them on board 100% for the fall. I suppose there is some logic behind that. I wouldn’t do it personally if I was Obama. But that’s for an IMHO thread. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-obama-pay-off-clintons-debts/450886/18 "2008-06-01T06:45:36Z")
[QUOTE=tim314] Plus there’s the fact that she actually _wants_ Obama to beat McCain, because Obama’s politics are _much_ closer to her own. [/QUOTE] Whatever gave you that idea? (Personality Politics: “It’s all about me.” Issues Politics: “It’s _ **really** _ all about me.”)