Hillary’s Donors Drying Up?!

Donors rail against Hillary Clinton’s spending

By Alex Spillius in Austin, Texas

Last Updated: 1:52am GMT 23/02/2008

Hillary Clinton’s faltering White House campaign spent £2.5 million on consultants, £50,000 on party food in Iowa and £12,500 on rooms at a luxury hotel last month, according to an internal financial report. ————————————————————————–   As the debate came to an end, Hillary Clinton said she was ‘honoured to be here with Barack Obama’, and shook his hand—————————————- Her lavish spending has prompted complaints of mismanagement and flawed priorities from campaign insiders and donors, while a leading Democratic strategist said she had run a “Ritz-Carlton” campaign. Cash shortages forced Mrs Clinton to lend her campaign £2.5 million earlier this month, while her campaign manager stepped down after failing to keep a close enough eye on spending. The campaign’s financial woes have helped Barack Obama take a seemingly insurmountable lead in the race for the nomination. Mrs Clinton’s strategists and media advisers have come in for particular criticism. The firm of Mark Penn, her pollster and image guru, was paid £1.9 million in January and has received a total of £5 million for consulting, direct mail and other services. Howard Wolfson, Mrs Clinton’s communications director, was paid £135,000 last month and has raked in £390,000 so far. Mandy Grunwald, an aide since Bill Clinton’s presidency, has collected £1.2 million in fees and expenses. advertisement Mr Wolfson said: “Fees and payments are in line with industry standards. Spending priorities have been consistent with overall strategic goals.” Observers agree that the campaign made two major errors: spending too much at the top and not enough on the ground, and presuming Mrs Clinton would wrap up the nomination on Feb 5, when 24 states voted. When the contest continued, there was little money and no plan for ensuing states. Mr Obama, meanwhile, carried on raising £500,000 a day, most of it from a network of small contributors he had cultivated over recent months and which grew with his crucial victory in Iowa on Jan 3. Joe Trippi, an adviser to John Edwards, who dropped out of the race after Super Tuesday, said: “Hillary ran a campaign like they were staying at the Ritz-Carlton. Everything had to be the best, the best décor; the biggest plane.” Furthermore, Mrs Clinton relied too heavily on a network of donors built up over the years with Mr Clinton. Under new rules, each can give a maximum of only £2,300. Having spent £54 million, her campaign is struggling to keep pace with Mr Obama. His financial advantage allowed him to spend more than her in every state that has voted since Super Tuesday – and he has won them all. Mrs Clinton had hoped to claw back some ground at a debate on Thursday night in Austin, Texas, which votes on March 4. But she failed to lay a blow on a well-rehearsed Mr Obama, and at the end struck an almost valedictory note. “You know, whatever happens, we’re going to be fine. I just hope that we’ll be able to say the same thing about the American people. And that’s what this election should be about,” she said. She will fight on, but for how much longer is not clear.