Aggressive Obama TV Spending Prompted Clinton's Loan

AGGRESSIVE OBAMA TV SPENDING PROMPTED CLINTON'S LOAN
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Matthew Mosk]
When Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) began to bombard Super Tuesday states with television ads late last month, top advisers to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) quickly realized they could not afford to match the effort, and first broached with her the notion of dipping into her personal bank account. "The campaign faced a strategic decision -- either attempt to match his TV . . . or lose," said a senior Clinton adviser, who spoke about the internal discussions on the condition of anonymity. "I would say given the result of Super Tuesday, it was the right decision." The $5 million loan telegraphed for the first time that the Clinton campaign, which raised more than $100 million in 2007, had suddenly hit the financial skids. What campaign aides have described as a "temporary cash-flow problem" left Clinton unable to match Obama's advertising in upcoming primary states for much of this week. It also made some of Clinton's top donors, in key states such as Texas, uneasy. But donations are again flowing into the Clinton campaign which will start airing television ads in several critical states today. Evan Tracey, an analyst who monitors political advertising, confirmed that the Clinton team had placed new orders for ads in Maine, Nebraska and Washington state. But Obama has had commercials airing for several days in large television markets in the District, Maryland and Virginia, as well as Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington state, Tracey said. The senator from Illinois has also gotten a fundraising bounce out of the Feb. 5 contests, raising more than $7 million on Wednesday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/07/AR200802...
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* And Now, More Debates
Sen. Barack Obama agreed to two new debates with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and saw his post-Super Tuesday fundraising haul surpass $7 million, as he crossed the country seeking a trio of wins in the Democratic contests on Saturday. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the debates will probably take place in Ohio and Texas, sometime before their March 4 primaries.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/07/AR200802...

* Obama, Clinton camps settle on two debates
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20080208/a_eline08.art.htm

* Obama agrees to two more debates with Clinton
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0742473120080208