Chartered flights: $161, 751. Photography: $51,313. Flowers: $13,169. Winning re-election: Priceless - or $29.5 million.
Senator Hillary Clinton's handy 30 point reelection win two weeks ago cost a lot of money. The NY Times reports that her campaign spent about $30 million for this victory, which now puts her at the similar 2008 war chest levels as Senators John Kerry and Evan Bayh. And some Democrats and Clinton supporters are concerned about what this could mean later, since the re-election should have been a walk in the park and that some donors might not want to give again. Also from the article:
Beyond the level of spending, there is also some concern within the Clinton camp about the adequacy of the controls on what is being spent.
A close friend of Mrs. Clinton, Maggie Williams, received a $37,500 consulting fee, paid to her firm, Griffin Williams Critical Point Management, at the end of July.
Asked what the payment was for, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign aides checked and subsequently responded that the payment had been a mistake. They said it should have been for less than $5,000 to reimburse Ms. Williams, who served as chief of staff to Mrs. Clinton in the White House, for travel costs. They said Ms. Williams would return the extra money. Ms. Williams, who was said by Mrs. Clinton’s aides to be traveling, did not return a call to her office.
Interesting, it takes the newspaper to notice the mistake. Anyway, we imagine that she wanted to set the tone for what kind of presidential campaign she'd run - expensive and expansive. And Clinton will probably be able to raise as much money as she wants in the future - especially with Bill at her side and Chelsea working for a hedge fund.
The NY Times also has a graphic breaking out some costs.
