May 7, 2008 7:00 am US/Central
Aides: Clinton Loaned Her Campaign $6.4 Million
Vows To Fight On Despite Split N.C., Indiana Decision
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ―
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton lent her presidential campaign $6.4 million over the past month, her campaign said Wednesday, underscoring the financial advantage held by her rival, Barack Obama.
The money more than doubled Clinton's personal investment in her bid for the Democratic nomination. She gave her campaign $5 million earlier this year.
A campaign aide said Clinton gave her campaign another $5 million on April 11, more than a week before the Pennsylvania primary. She then again dipped into her personal wealth for $1 million last week and $425,000 on Monday, one day before the North Carolina and Indiana primaries.
Clinton's campaign reported raising $10 million online after her Pennsylvania victory on April 22. Evidently, the money was not enough and her fundraising was unable to keep up with her expenses heading into Tuesday's contests.
Moreover, Obama has routinely outspent her in primary after primary and has shown little difficulty tapping his vast network of donors. He spent more than $7 million on advertising head of Tuesday's primaries in North Carolina and Indiana to her nearly $4 million.
According to the latest campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Obama began the month of April with $42 million in the bank for the primary to Clinton's $9.3 million.
But Clinton had debts of $10.3 million at the start of the month, much of it money owed to her main polling, phone banking and advertising consultants.
Tuesday night, Clinton pledged to keep going full throttle for the Democratic presidential nomination and tried to put the best spin on a disappointing night.
Clinton lost to Obama by a wide margin in North Carolina and managed only a slim win in Indiana, a victory that she held out as evidence that she still has staying power in the race.
"Tonight, we've come from behind. We've broken the tie, and thanks to you, it's full speed on to the White House," Clinton told hundreds of supporters in downtown Indianapolis as former President Clinton and daughter Chelsea stood by her side.
Her words aside, Tuesday clearly wasn't what the former first lady had hoped it would be. And there were signs that she was mindful of the fragile state of her candidacy, and her dwindling options to block Obama from claiming the Democratic nomination.
Clinton made a direct fundraising appeal to backers to help her compete against Obama's better-financed operation - unusual remarks at a victory party.
Her speech seemed to lack the boisterous spirit that marked her events in the run up to Tuesday. And she didn't linger on the "rope line," where fans crowd her to shake hands, sign autographs and pose for pictures, after ending her speech. She spent some time greeting supporters but then quickly left the building.
"I need your help to continue our journey," Clinton said in her speech. "This has always been your campaign, and this is your victory because your support has meant the difference between winning and losing."
"I hope you will go to HillaryClinton.com and support our campaign," she added.
In what was perhaps a nod to her uphill struggle to overcome Obama's delegate lead, she noted the back-and-forth nature of the protracted fight - "I win, he wins. I win, he wins. It's so close." - and pledged anew that she'll swing behind the Democratic nominee "no matter what happens."
But she also vowed to press on for the nomination, saying: "These next primaries are another test. I will work my heart out in West Virginia and Kentucky. I intend to win them in November."
Clinton hoped her Indiana victory would give her fresh talking points as she works to convince voters yet to cast their ballots and undecided superdelegates - elected Democratic officials - to side with her in the punishingly long nomination fight.
Obama leads in the race to rack up the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. It will be difficult - if not impossible - for Clinton to overtake him even if she manages to win a chunk of the states left to vote and convinces many of the unaligned superdelegate to break her way.
The New York senator headed back to Washington early Wednesday. Her only public appearance was an evening fundraiser. She also planned to meet privately with superdelegates who have endorsed her, which aides said was routine after a primary night.
Clinton planned to return to the campaign trail Thursday with events in at least one of the remaining states to vote.
Once the Democratic front-runner, Clinton sustained a series of losses to Obama early in the year and in the months since has been slowly clawing her way back into the thick of the race.
Over the past two months, she scored a couple of big-state wins as Obama faltered amid the controversy surrounding his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and Obama's own comment that people from small towns cling to guns and religion because they are bitter.
Seeking to take advantage of that opportunity, Clinton retooled her campaign to focus on producing results for an anxious middle class and started aggressively courting white, working-class voters at a time of economic anxiety. With that strategy, she triumphed last month in Pennsylvania and kept her candidacy alive.
She used the same bread-and-butter message in Indiana and North Carolina, and the final days of those primaries were dominated by Clinton's call for a summertime suspension of the federal gasoline tax.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
