How many times is this guy going to ask for money? Top Fund-Raiser Dean Now Seeks Debt Aid By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - One-time presidential candidate Howard Dean (news - web sites), whose campaign fund went from boom to bust, is pleading with donors to open their pocketbooks one more time and help him retire at least $400,000 in debt. The Democrat who broke party records for a presidential candidate by raising $41 million last year abandoned his bid last week after failing to win a single state. Back in Vermont, the former governor sent an e-mail appealing for cash to pay his campaign bills. "Most of these expenses are small businessmen, printers who created brochures, yard signs and stationery, family restaurants who provided gallons of coffee and thousands of doughnuts for volunteers, and local merchants who provided buses, microphones and staging equipment," Dean wrote. "When these things were ordered, we thought we could win key early contests and use the momentum to secure more victories in other states," he said. Dean's plea reflected how quickly his fortunes changed — politically and financially — in the presidential race. The former front-runner set a Democratic fund-raising record in 2003, due in large part to a faithful core of small-dollar donors who gave through the Internet. Many made monthly donations or gave repeatedly in response to Web-a-thons by the Dean team. The candidate was so confident the money would continue to flow that he became the first Democrat to skip public financing and rely solely on his own fund-raising ability to finance his campaign. That confidence also carried through to his spending decisions. Flush with money, the campaign aired expensive ads early on and established a costly nationwide ground game. By the end of 2003 — before the primary contests even started — Dean had spent nearly every dollar he had taken in. Dean's fund raising remained strong in January — he raised about $6.2 million — but he lost in every delegate contest held and started to see his money momentum fade as it increased for the new front-runner — John Kerry (news - web sites). "Can you help by making a small contribution today?" Dean asked in his Tuesday e-mail. "I won't suggest a specific amount: $250, $100 or even $50 would be appreciated. ... This debt is of huge concern to me. I need the help of good friends like you now." Dean said he wants to retire the debt quickly so he can move forward with an organization he plans to start "to affect change at all levels of our political process," in a form still be determined. Democrats, meanwhile, are eager to find a way to translate Dean's Internet fund raising into a moneymaker for the party. The Dean campaign's financial situation is most remarkable because of the record amount he raised, but every Democratic presidential hopeful has been cutting it close on cash, and several former candidates began this month with substantial bills to pay. Among them, Wesley Clark (news - web sites) reported about $3.4 million in campaign bills to pay as February began, with only about $400,000 in the bank. Clark did accept public financing and will be helped by about $1.8 million from the program when the next monthly checks go out Monday. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040225/ap_on_el_pr/dean_debt
Boo-hoo. I hope that his donors are smarter than that and don't give that windbag one red cent. In the words of Nelson from the Simpsons:
I gotta agree with you on this, that's f'ing ridiculous. It probably happens all the time to both parties candidates. Now gimme some money or I'll rip your arms off!
Almost every single candidate -- Republican and Democrat -- for any office has debt at the end of a campaign. Consultants often let their fees slide through the election to give their clients more ready cash. The only difference here is that it's national news because Dean inexplicably burned through $41 million without winning a primary.
Here's just one recent example. Every single candidate in the California recall had debt (except Camejo). Including Ah-nold. http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/6874931.htm Schwarzenegger race now owes $2.4 million By Don Thompson ASSOCIATED PRESS SACRAMENTO - Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign accounts owe more than $2.4 million in unpaid bills to consultants and other creditors, leaving more cash free for his time-compressed governor's recall campaign. Schwarzenegger, who promises to trim government overhead if he is elected to replace Gov. Gray Davis, is spending $500,000 a month on campaign consultants, new campaign reports show. Many of his consultants, fund-raisers and office expenses have not been paid, however, freeing up that money for advertising and other creditors who demand payment up front, campaign treasurer Colleen McAndrews said Friday. The high debt is a result of fund raising that slowed down as a federal appellate court considered postponing the election, McAndrews said. "We're hoping it picks back up." Schwarzenegger personally contributed $2 million to his campaign and Total Recall funds Sept. 4, the day Associated Press first questioned the campaign's heavy debt. Much of that went to pay what was then reported as about $1 million in unpaid bills, McAndrews said, but new finance records show about $900,000 remains unpaid from the previous reporting period. The $901,985 left unpaid in the Total Recall account, $691,134 of it from the last month, was triple the $333,892 on hand as the reporting period closed Saturday, meaning the fund's checks would have bounced had they been written to pay all its bills. Had Californians for Schwarzenegger paid the $2.4 million it owed that day, it would have reduced its $3.4 million cash balance down to $1 million. But the unique rules of this recall means nearly $750,000 in expenses, the bulk of Total Recall's debt, is shared debt that shows up on both committees' reports, McAndrews said. The two funds are ostensibly independent, however, allowing Total Recall to accept donations far above the $21,200 limit to Schwarzenegger's individual fund because it is aimed at unseating Davis, not at promoting any particular replacement. She blamed the heavy debt on the unique compacted timetable of the recall campaign. "We're spending in 60 days what usually takes months," she said. "It's a tsunami that has overwhelmed the mechanisms of a normal campaign." Schwarzenegger's spending dwarfs that of other campaigns, but so does his debt. His major Republican opponent, state Sen. Tom McClintock, owed $49,870 and had a cash balance of $305,415. Davis' Californians Against the Costly Recall committee owed $332,329 on a bank balance of $1.4 million. Davis' individual committee owed $48,976 but had $830,210 on hand. "If he can't run his campaign, how do we expect him to run the fifth-largest economy in the world?" asked Davis spokesman Peter Ragone. Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante owed $286,696 and had a bank balance of $100,114 in his individual account. His committee to oppose Proposition 54, which is supposed to be refunding money it spent on TV ads opposing a ban on public collection of racial data, owes $39,915 on a cash balance of $2,708. Only his No on the Recall committee had a positive ratio: $6,040 owed on a balance of $66,413. Bustamante's cumulative debt was a fraction of Schwarzenegger's, however. Independent Arianna Huffington had the same cash-poor ratio as Schwarzenegger and Bustamante, with $138,294 in debt and $62,173 in the bank. Green Party candidate Peter Camejo, however, was owed money.
