One of Hillary Clinton’s national finance chairmen said it’s still too early to say how much Barack Obama has helped his former rival’s efforts to retire her campaign debt. But Democratic moneyman Hassan Nemazee said the more Obama gets for Clinton, the easier it will be to raise money for his own campaign.
“I would like to see what the results are before I jump to conclusions whether the results are greater or less than expected,” Nemazee told The Examiner.
But he said the two Obama fundraisers now helping Clinton know Obama is the real beneficiary.
“I’m not saying there is a quid pro quo, I will just simply say it is human nature,” Nemazee said. “If someone helps you, you are significantly more inclined to help them. And the reverse is true as well.”
The implication: Clinton’sbig-money donors have already donated the legal maximum to her campaign. If Obama’s team knocks out Clinton’s debt, those maxed-out donors might be quicker to lend a hand to the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Top Democratic political donors have complained about raising money for both Obama and Clinton, whose debt from the primaries exceeds $22 million. Clinton donors want Obama to help her retire more than $10 million of the debt.
Nemazee pointed out that Clinton’s debt could be retired with about 3,000 of Obama’s donors giving the $2,300 maximum allowed by law.
“Writing multiple checks is not something that is terribly unique,” Nemazee said. “I would urge everybody to take a deep breath and see what Obama has been able to do and see what Clinton has been able to do.”
Democratic strategist Peter Fenn said Obama, now seeing a lull in small donations, cannot shirk his duty to help Clinton.
“It’s important that he do that or the consequence will be that he does not get her folks’ money,” Fenn said. “There is a bit of ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ going on.”
