New Clinton Strategy: Cry broke. The day after the Super Tuesday contests yielded no clear Democratic front-runner, Hillary is crying “broke” as a plea for donations and votes. Honestly, I find it deplorable. No, she didn’t come on TV crying, begging or promising to heal America—like the TV evangelist who gives real evangelists a bad rap—In fact, she was very matter-of-fact and expressed little emotion. She simply stated that preceding Super Tuesday, she loaned her campaign $5 Million dollars.
In her words she states, "I loaned the campaign $5 million from my money. I loaned it because I believe very strongly in this campaign…” STOP. Did she say, “BELIEVE” in her campaign? A presidential campaign is not a for-profit business. When you make an investment in a business venture, you expect a return. Basically, you give to get. It’s a loan and you expect your money back.
But when you give to a cause—something you whole-heartedly believe in—you don’t give expecting something in return. You give because it’s worth it to you to give of your wealth (your treasure) to this cause. You believe so strongly in your cause that you’re willing to make the sacrifice—in church we call this sacrificial giving—and that’s what real giving is all about. Giving with no strings attached.
To those of us who understand this concept, Hillary’s “contribution” is laughable—if not insulting to those who have given, and who will give to her campaign. Okay, so it’s $5 million dollars. Giving is relative to one’s assets and five million to Hillary might be five hundred to you or me. So, can you guess where I’m going with this?
What if everyone who contributed money to Hillary’s campaign wanted their money back at the end of the campaign? Why should Hillary give and get her money back, yet supporters give and receive nothing (monetarily) in return? Why should her contributors sacrifice more than her?
What are the terms of the loan? And for anyone who does gives after hearing her plea, will their contribution end up in Hillary’s personal bank account in order to pay off the loan? Is this what contributors really want?
Basically Hillary is saying, “I’m going to front my campaign the money we need until you (my contributors) get your act together and fund this campaign like it needs to be funded…and then I’ll pull my money out.” Then her contribution will be a wash and she’ll not be out of a dime.
We’ve all heard of matching funds—although it’s usually in the context of giving to charitable causes—and that’s exactly what Hillary wants. Hillary wants us to believe that she is a charity case. It’s called “The Fund to Heal the Hurting Hillary Campaign.” And she desperately wants each of us to open our hearts—and wallets—and give. Well, she may not call it that, but it’s in essence what she put before us when she announced that she loaned her campaign five million dollars. To make us even more sympathetic, some of her top staffers have agreed to work a month without pay.
But here’s the bottom line. If Hillary had donated $5 million dollars to her own campaign, I wouldn’t be writing this piece. I’d be saying, “Bravo. Go for it. Do what you have to do.” But she’s not giving it. No, Hillary is loaning her campaign the money.
Hillary should learn from Mitt Romney. He spent well over $30 million dollars of his own money on his campaign. Yet at the end of the day, Romney knew he would need the voters and the voters’ dollars to validate his candidacy, fund his campaign and determine his success in the race. In the end, he didn’t have it and he dropped out.
I’m not suggesting Hillary doesn’t have voter support. It’s clear that Democrats across the nation are split between Clinton and Obama. On the other hand, Scripture tells us that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
A lot of the financial treasure coming into the Democratic race right now is going to Barack Obama. And it just might be a sign that their heart is with him too. If that’s the case, Mrs. Clinton, no amount of money you could loan to your campaign can compensate for the heart of the democratic voter.
So please, Hillary, if you’re going to give, don’t give with strings attached. It’s insulting. Your contributors didn’t do it, and neither should you.
Copyright ©2008 by Anita S. Lane
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