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Clinton donors asked to meet with Obama
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-18 14:26 WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton plan to meet with some of her top contributors next week in an effort to calm donors who remain frustrated with Obama's presidential campaign.
The meeting is set for June 26 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, several top Clinton fundraisers said Tuesday. The former first lady will introduce Obama to her financial backers. Jonathan Mantz, Clinton's national finance director, notified donors about the meeting by e-mail Tuesday and urged them to attend and to contribute to Obama, who clinched the Democratic Party's nomination on June 3. Two people closely involved with Clinton's fundraising said the meeting had taken on added urgency after several of her money "bundlers" complained that they felt their concerns weren't heard during meetings last week with Obama campaign officials in New York and Washington. Both individuals spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the meeting. Among other things, the donors want to make sure Obama knows that in order to get their help he needs to help Clinton pay down her campaign debt. As of the end of April, Clinton had more than $20 million in debt, a figure that likely increased by the time she suspended her campaign June 7. Obama cannot use his campaign money to help Clinton with her debt, which includes at least $11 million of her own money. But he can encourage his donors to contribute to her campaign. The two fundraisers who discussed the meeting said many donors also are furious that Obama's campaign hired Patti Solis Doyle as chief of staff to Obama's eventual running mate, calling it a slap in the face to Clinton and an implicit acknowledgment that she would not be on the ticket with him. |
