Hillary refund update

The New York Observer reports today that Senator Hillary Clinton has sent her donors a letter asking for permission to keep the money -- up to $2,300 per person -- that they donated for the general election, so she can spend it on her 2012 Senate campaign.

The mailing includes a form for donors to sign and return if they want to authorize the rollover, but not, apparently, a form to sign if they want an immediate refund.

"If we do not hear back from you by August 28, 2008, we will automatically refund your contribution," the letter says.

That gives Senator Clinton six weeks, plus processing time, to come up with the money if, as we suspect, she spent the general election donations illegally on the primary campaign.

Watch for a hurricane-strength tantrum if Senator Obama continues to refuse to send out an e-mail to his supporters asking them to kick in a few bucks to pay the Clinton campaign debt and "unify the party."

Did you catch Terry McAuliffe on Andrea Mitchell's MSNBC show last week talking about all the Democratic candidates in the past who didn't release their delegates before the convention, and insisting that the party always has a roll call vote?

Well, don't worry if you missed it, you're certain to have plenty of chances to hear it again.

The Clinton team is giving every indication that they're ready and willing to pout and throw things during the convention next month. "You don't want a situation where anybody feels they've been cheated," political consultant Tad Devine told the Wall Street Journal.

No wonder Senator Obama moved his acceptance speech to a bigger stadium. He has to hand out an extra 50,000 tickets just to make sure he has a friendly audience.


Copyright 2008

Editor's note: You might be interested in the earlier posts, "Obama's big move," "Hillary's 'No Refunds' Policy" and "Why Hillary Won't Go."

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