Clinton sustaining damage on two fronts

Politico has yet another, pretty damaging report about the Clinton campaign's debt.  Apparently it extends to health insurance.  The campaign says the insurance premiums have been paid, but...

Among the debts reported this month by Hillary Rodham Clinton’s struggling presidential campaign, the $292,000 in unpaid health insurance premiums for her campaign staff stands out.

Clinton, who is being pressured to end her campaign against Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, has made her plan for universal health care a centerpiece of her agenda.

The campaign provides health insurance to all its employees, their spouses, partners and children — and that wasn’t interrupted by any lag in payments to insurance providers, said Jay Carson, a Clinton campaign spokesman.

He said the campaign this month paid off all outstanding bills to Aetna Healthcare and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. Those payments will be reflected on a report the campaign will file this month with the Federal Election Commission, which Carson said will show “zero debt owed to both vendors.”

Politico reporters found that the situation wasn't quite that sunny.  " During the first two months of the year, the campaign did not pay down any of that debt."  Instead, it went deeper into debt.

Meanwhile, Democratic party leadership is pressing for an ending to the campaign by June.  They may well opt for the Bredesen solution, or something very much like it.  In this scenario, the superdelegates would come together early in a "virtual convention" to make a decision about their support.  It looks as though the "convention" is already underway.

The idea sounds exotic, but recent public declarations and Politico interviews with top Democratic officials have made clear that something like what Bredesen proposed is already underway — not with a big meeting but with an intensifying series of exchanges among party elites.

The early voting in this virtual convention is bad news for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her hope that Democratic leaders will settle the nomination is starting to come true — with Barack Obama so far emerging as the beneficiary.

After a 10-day slog of self-inflicted wounds and fatalistic headlines for Clinton, these party elders are clearly tilting against her hopes for keeping the nomination contest open indefinitely.

The Democrats’ virtual convention is taking place publicly, with statements like the remarkable comment by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that Clinton should get out now, and semi-publicly, with background comments made by top operatives to the media.

It is taking place also in private entreaties by e-mail or phone — the modern equivalent of smoke-filed rooms — as advocates for Obama urge an early end to the race and Clinton backers plead for time and warn about his general election vulnerabilities.

It isn't as though Clinton has no idea all this is going on.   Many probably wonder why she is clinging to the campaign.  Well, here's a possibility.  She's holding out for a promise.

This gathering momentum has forced the Clintons into Hail Mary arguments, causing even some confidants to wonder about their logic or real aims. Bill Clinton recently pointed out that she was ahead in the popular vote in primaries, as opposed to caucuses — essentially saying she’s ahead in contests she has won.

“They’re trying everything, and nothing is sticking,” said a Clinton family adviser. “It is possible she’s trying to leverage all this into a spot on the ticket.”

Ugly thought, frankly.  Would you trust her?

Comments

[Christian Prophet]

Campaign debt is very common. Barack Obama actually has more to worry about as the truth about him is only just beginning to come out. See:
http://miraclesdaily.blogspot.com/

[Jim W]

At this point, a better question is how much trust among his own supporters would Obama undermine if he tapped Hillary as his VP? I think it would be boneheaded blunder. He should offer to help Clinton retire her debt in expeditious fashion (if she'll promise to smile as she campaigns for him), and leave it at that.

[PW]

As long as he doesn't hire her as an adviser! Her ability as a wonk is unquestioned. Her judgment is abysmal.

[Debbie, Columbia, SC]

What are the other 'possibles' for Obama's VP? I cringe at the thought of having HRC as his VP after all the negative remarks and lies she has told about "her experience." I don't want a chronic liar, suffering from delusions of grandeur as our Vice President. {Must be the result of all those sniper bullets she and Chelsea dodged in Bosnia!}
Who Else Might He Select??

[PW]

A lot of people have been mentioned, Debbie, but who knows! Kansas gov? Arizona gov? John Edwards? Bill Richardson? I get the feeling he would come up with a very original and somewhat surprising vp, not someone we all might have guessed, don't you?

I'm not sure how cooperative Hillary would be, but I think she'd do better in the Senate -- for an Obama administration and for her own future. Seems to me she needs to do some repair work on her reputation.

[BettyB]

The Kansas governor made a leaden and unimpassioned speech earlier this year, but she was invited to the Bilderberger conference last year where supposedly candidates are annointed. Since so many Obama supporters are anti-Hillary, that leaves half of the Democratic party looking for a home, and the Republicans win. What are you people smoking?

[PW]

People who call other people "you people" get demerits at this blog!

A while back I asked you seriously what you thought Hillary's experience has been that particularly suits her for the job and you haven't responded. I think many Obama supporters have been quite articulate and unhysterical in describing their doubts about Clinton. Most of the responses from Clinton supporters have been defensive and non-specific. A response with specifics about her experience would help a lot if you can do it...