Even though these numbers haven't been confirmed, it's likely that the fundraising for both campaigns will be down from last month. Clinton's total campaign debt, meanwhile, has remained close to $9 million, not including Clinton's personal loan of $5 million. This raises two questions:
One Clinton adviser wondered whether that what he called the "massive debt" was beginning to hang over not simply the campaign but Clinton's political future. How, this adviser asked, can the campaign climb out of "the debt hole if we don't win this whole thing?"
Facing a Senate re-election campaign in 2012, he noted, Clinton's choice is daunting: "If you have a $10 million debt when this thing is over, she has to pay it off, and then, four years later, raise $30 to $40 million" to wage a re-election campaign.
The Clintons have been working their fundraising network to the brink, with an expensive 2006 Senate campaign, followed immediately with a 2008 presidential campaign.
Now, I'll assume they'll be perfectly capable of paying off a $10 million debt, and the Clintons' personal fortune is such that they can write off the $5 million loan as a loss, but these financial worries could grow louder over time.
The campaign announced today that more than 442,000 contributors across the country together contributed more than $40 million in March. Of those contributors, over 218,000 were donating to the campaign for the first time.
In a press release, campaign manager David Plouffe said:
Senator Obama has always said that this campaign would rise or fall on the willingness of the American people to become partners in an effort to change our politics and start a new chapter in our history. Today we're seeing the American people's extraordinary desire to change Washington, as tens of thousands of new contributors joined the more than a million Americans who have already taken ownership of this campaign for change. Many of our contributors are volunteering for the campaign, making our campaign the largest grassroots army in recent political history.
Once again, you've defied the expectations and the odds. You've shown that the strength, dedication and commitment of this movement has not slowed or wavered one bit. In unprecedented numbers, ordinary people are volunteering and donating to this campaign, taking true ownership in a way that has never happened before. Together, you have shown that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Yes we can.
