Like her poll numbers, Hillary Clinton’s campaign finances have seen some ups and downs. The campaign looked to be in good shape in December, but then struggled a few months ago, prompting Clinton to make a $5 million loan to herself. After the media highlighted the campaign’s troubles, Clinton donors rallied and seemingly put the campaign back on track, though by the end of February, it looked as if Team Clinton was operating in the red again.
With this background in mind, reports about the campaign failing to pay its bills are only going to feed the perception that the Clinton operation has financial troubles.
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s cash-strapped presidential campaign has been putting off paying hundreds of bills for months — freeing up cash for critical media buys but also earning the campaign a reputation as something of a deadbeat in some small-business circles.
A pair of Ohio companies owed more than $25,000 by Clinton for staging events for her campaign are warning others in the tight-knit event production community — and anyone else who will listen — to get their cash upfront when doing business with her. Her campaign, say representatives of the two companies, has stopped returning phone calls and e-mails seeking payment of outstanding invoices. One even got no response from a certified letter.
Their cautionary tales, combined with published reports about similar difficulties faced by a New Hampshire landlord, an Iowa office cleaner and a New York caterer, highlight a less-obvious impact of Clinton’s inability to keep up with the staggering fundraising pace set by her opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
It’s one thing to push off paying high-priced consultants (Clinton reportedly owes Mark Penn $2.5 million), but the campaign’s problems are more noteworthy because they affect small businesses, many of which have employees who seem quite annoyed that their bills have so far gone unpaid.
Complicating matters, the Politico added today that among the campaign’s debts are unpaid health insurance premiums for Clinton’s campaign staff.
I’m still trying to decide, though, whether stories like this have an impact or not.
It’s hard to imagine a credible number of voters seriously arguing, “I was going to vote for Clinton, but then I heard she got behind in paying her bills, so I’m switching my support.” For that matter, it’s possible that most of the public won’t hear much about this at all — the Politico report ran yesterday, and as far as I can tell, major media outlets haven’t picked up on this at all. The campaign-vendor constituency, while important, is still rather small.
That said, as far as public relations are concerned, this probably isn’t the kind of story the Clinton team welcomes. On the one hand, it makes it appear as the campaign isn’t looking out for small businesses:
The Clinton campaign paid the [production company Forty Two of Youngstown, Ohio] $16,500 to set up a stage, press riser, sound system and backdrops at a Youngstown high school last month for a raucous union rally, where an aggressive Clinton stump speech drew thunderous applause. But the Clinton campaign has yet to pay Forty Two for two other February events, and the employee said the campaign has stopped returning phone calls, e-mails and didn’t respond to a certified letter.
“We worked very hard to put together these events on a moment’s notice and do absolutely everything to a ‘t’ to make it look perfect on television for her and for her campaign,” said the employee. “Sen. Clinton talks about helping working families, people in unions and small businesses. But when it comes down to actually doing something that shows that she can back up her words with action, she fails.”
Forty Two also has done events for Obama’s campaign, which has paid its bills promptly, according to the employee. FEC records show Obama’s campaign paid the company $18,500.
And on the other hand, this is a point at which the Clinton team is anxious to prove to the party (and its donors) that the campaign is strong and prepared for the long haul. Stories with the word “deadbeat” in the lede aren’t helpful at all.