Campaign Debt? What Campaign Debt?

Clever accounting could leave Clinton cash to play kingmaker
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 12, 2008 9:58 AM CDT
Campaign Debt? What Campaign Debt?
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., greets supporters at her South Dakota and Montana primary night event in New York, Tuesday, June 3, 2008.    (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

Some clever and mostly legal accounting tricks could minimize Clinton's big campaign debt and leave her with cash on hand for king-making or another future campaign, reports Politico. Hillary could reclassify her own loans to the campaign as contributions, ask donors to redirect their cash to her Senate campaign, and take it slow on repaying understanding debtors.

If Hillary pays off vendors that could sue her campaign, there's no rush on repaying the rest of the so-called "friendly debt." A legally controversial possibility raised by Politico involves transferring general election contributions and debt to her Senate fund, then paying off the debt there, but Clinton's own lawyers are urging caution on that front. (More Hillary Clinton stories.)

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