carrying on the misogyny and backstabbing
the cowardly backstabber as he hides,
while Gov. Palin does the heavy work over many months.
Posted on 12/06/2010 2:02:14 PM PST by FTJM
Was it all a heist?
A candidate who had persistent financial problems pulls off a surprise upset in the primary, and the conservative grassroots open their wallets wide and often in order to help ensure the campaign’s competitiveness – only to see the candidate end the campaign with nearly $1 million in unspent funds.
Is this how Christine O’Donnell wanted it?
Politico reported, “O’Donnell reported having $924,800 in the bank after the election was over, according to her post-general election campaign fundraising report, filed Thursday.”
The explanation from O’Donnell spokesman Matthew Moran is that O’Donnell was advised by her attorney to reserve “several hundred thousand dollars” for after Election Day to use for legal challenges resulting from her campaign — such as a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission filed by the state GOP during the primary and a criminal complaint filed with the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
When was O’Donnell advised this? The state GOP complaint was filed before the primary, and the CREW complaint was filed September 20. Clearly, almost all of her donors were unaware that the candidate was going to require a cushion of “several hundred thousand dollars” for potential legal costs before their donations could be spent on actually trying to win the race.
Follow the time-line here. As late as June 30, 2010, O’Donnell’s cash-strapped campaign had less than $70,000 cash on hand. On September 14, she won the primary, and conservative grassroots contributed to her campaign on a scale rarely seen: $850,000 in the first 24 hours; by September 25, she had raised $2.5 million.
Despite this almost unprecedented influx of funds, the O’Donnell campaign aired no television ads for three weeks after the primary. During that time, the Chris Coons campaign and the DSCC each aired two ads; also, O’Donnell became a national figure – and frequent punchline – thanks to Bill Maher, Jay Leno, etc. According to the O’Donnell campaign, the slow roll out of television ads stemmed from a desire to work with Fred Davis, creator of “Demonsheep”, the McCain ad implicitly comparing Obama to Paris Hilton and many other memorable ads.
At the time, some of us pointed out the danger in this approach. On October 4, less than one month before Election Day, O’Donnell’s first ad debuted, with the memorable opening line, “I’m not a witch.” By October 21, she was declaring on Good Morning America that the ad had not worked or accomplished its goal, to put the witch talk behind her.
Then again, perhaps O’Donnell’s campaign spending was moot, and there was no point in spending this $924,000 or so. O’Donnell ultimately spent $6.1 million, a record for Delaware and almost twice what Coons spent, $3.2 million. During the brief general election campaign, she never closed the margin to less than 10 points and lost, 56.6 percent to 40 percent.
Presuming that the $924,000 isn’t eaten by legal costs, what happens to the money? Well, O’Donnell can return it to donors, contribute to other candidates… or use it in another run for office. If O’Donnell does run for office, then on paper, O’Donnell can collect a portion of this money as a salary. Under FEC law, “House and Senate candidates are permitted, under certain conditions, to receive a salary from their campaign committee (up to either the candidate’s earnings in the previous year or the salary of the office, whichever is lower).” Of course, O’Donnell reported a 2009 income of $5,800. Then again, in 2011, the “previous year” will have been 2010, and her income in the past year may be quite different – including a book deal.
National Romney Magazine strikes again
I know that soft money can’t go to hard money.
But can this hard money go to soft money? Can she use it to start a ChristinePAC? Then she could take her show on the road... books, websites, speaking engagements, etc.
Lets not mention that her own state party and Rove and NR were all also campaigning against her.
Go Christine. Don’t let the establishment beat you down. They fear what they can’t destroy.
She ran a LOUSY campaign overall. Another $1M would not have saved her. Had she run a great, strong campaign she would have won with or without another $1M.
It does raise important questions, indeed. Reserving one million does seem excessive for a first time GOP Senate nominee.
She spent 6 million. Another one would not have changed anything.
I expected this would happen. I believe I even predicted how much she would spend and leave.
Why is anyone surprised?
I'm not entirely familiar with all the relevant laws, but the short answer is yes, they could convert all that campaign money into a PAC so long as they satisfy some requirements. I'd have to look up the law to say precisely what those requirements are.
Also, candidates can give their left over money entirely to a charity, or partially (with limits) to other candidates or they can save it for future campaigns.
That “I’m not a witch” commercial looked silly. It might as well have been “I’m a witch” because that’s how it sounded. To have handled it as it deserved, answer it simply, then DROP it. That would have been the mature way to have done it. Of course, Rove hurt her badly, and she was left addled coming off that attack. He’s jumped the shark as far as I’m concerned, him and all the country club Republican elites.
Could the debacle over the purchased air time been part of the issue?? Remember what the local TV stations did to her.
I think she found her gig.
She just signed a book deal. Her name is well known enough she can probably get $5000 per speech to Right to Life banquets or Tea Party conventions.
It was a good year for her.
Who knows, maybe there is a reality show in her future.
I agree. She received the money late in the campaign, and she really only had time to do what she did.
Anyway, this is a phony complaint. Candidates often have money left over after a campaign, and they do what they do, they set up a PAC, they donate to other campaigns, they use it for seed money for their next campaign.
This is as normal as can be. I question the motives of anyone criticizing it.
Notice she's still fighting off attacks from the GOP. She has money to fight them thanks to tea party folk and no thanks to the GOP. Just a reminder of who not to donate to. I guess the GOP wants payback and they're mad because she has money to defend herself.
That “I’m not a witch” commercial looked silly.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Yes, she handled that like George Allen handled his macacca incident in VA vs Webb.
All Allen had to do was give a couple of speeches, raise a little money and kiss a few babies and he was ‘home free’.
But he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
His other ‘knife in his own back’ was when he tried to compare Jim Webb to J F’n Kerry.
(My Cynicism says) Almost looks like BOTH of them ‘threw the race’.
You know we're selecting the wrong candidates when those candidates make the most money they've ever made by failing to win.
Absolutely. I'll bet the New York literary agents and Hollywood booking agents are beating a path to her door. She'll earn so much from book royalties, speaking fees and TV appearances that she can simply donate that $900K of PAC money to her favorite charity. She'll never miss it!
Moreover, it's hard to understand why so many on FR keep bashing her. She's a first-rate businesswoman. Some businesswomen make and market widgets. Others make and market political campaigns. You pays your money and you takes your choice!
Yep, I thought that was in poor taste, as well. I don't like Webb the politician, but it's impossible to paint him as anything other than genuine war hero ESPECIALLY when you're a guy who never put the uniform on yourself.
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