While they are busy planning new runs for the presidency in 2008, both John Edwards and Wes Clark have unpaid debts from their 2004 campaigns. Beth Fouhy of the Associated Press has the story:
Democrats John Edwards and Wesley Clark have debts of several hundred thousand dollars from their unsuccessful White House bids in 2004, a burden as they consider presidential runs in 2008.
Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee, had about $2,200 in his campaign account at the end of September and more than $300,000 in unpaid bills from his failed campaign for his party's nomination.Clark, who has said he will decide in the next few months whether to run again, had about $390,000 left from the last campaign and debts totaling more than $260,000.
According to the Federal Election Commission, candidates are not obligated to pay off debts from a past presidential campaign before starting a new one.
Read the rest at the link above. I expect most of these debts are unpaid fees to consultants and/or staff members. Everyone else insists that political campaigns pay in advance. Advertising, signs, and polls all get their money up front. Sometimes hotels get shafted, since it isn't always possible for them to know what the final charges will be - Al Sharpton ran up large hotel and limo bills from his 2004 effort that remain unpaid. At the time, some criticized him for staying at the four-star places with his limited campaign budget. Now we know why - he wasn't going to pay anyway, so why not go first class?
The article also notes that Clinton, Obama, and Bayh each have over $10 million in campaign accounts which can be used for a Presidential campaign.
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2008 Presidential Race, Campaign Contributions
