Quid Pro Quo: Obama, Clinton Gave $890K to Superdelegates

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have given $890,000 to campaigns of the 796 superdelegates who could decide the Democratic presidential nomination, a nonpartisan research group says. Such donations “have been a generally reliable predictor of whose side a superdelegate will take,” the report notes. Obama's PAC has given $694,000, including $228,000 to 34 delegates who support him.

Clinton gave $195,000, including $95,000 to 13 nominators who have tapped her. Her camp seized on the report—which noted “it would be unseemly” for candidates to pay voters—quipping of Obama's PAC, “Looks like the hope in Hope Fund was for ‘I hope you endorse me.’” The rebuttal: “The secret that Obama has been a supporter of Democrats across the country has been uncovered.” (More superdelegates stories.)