Post Politics Hour
washingtonpost.com's Daily Politics Discussion

Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Campaign Finance Reporter
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 11:00 AM

Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and Congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.

Washington Post campaign finance reporter Matthew Mosk was online Wednesday, May 21 at noon ET to discuss the latest in political news.

The transcript follows.

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Archive: Post Politics Hour discussion transcripts

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Matthew Mosk: Good morning everyone.

Another primary election is behind us, and three more are to come before we should have some certainty on the identity of the Democratic nominee.

I'm just back from a weekend on the road with Barack Obama, and campaign finance reports have just landed, so there's plenty to talk about.

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Los Angeles: What is the status of McCain's suggestion of a series of joint town hall appearances with Obama, and how would that be financed and established?

Matthew Mosk: Thanks for the question Los Angeles.

This idea was percolating for the past couple weeks, and both McCain and Obama camps appeared to be viewing it with some favor.

Politico reported last week that Republican strategist Mark McKinnon talked about the joint town hall meeting idea, saying it was McCain's "best format" and that joint campaigning would test Obama's "claims that he wants a clean fight on the issues."

NBC's blog quoted a McCain spokesman on this, saying: "John McCain has repeatedly encouraged these types of appearances with his opponents in the past, but in order to extend all due respect to Sen. Clinton, we will look forward to welcoming the arrangements when the Democrats have actually chosen their nominee."

Similarly, a Politico's blog quoted Obama talking to reporters in Oregon, saying "That is a great idea. ... We would have to think through the logistics on this."

Of course, he said this would only be the case if he became the nominee.

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Re: "The Press": Dana Milbank has a witty column today about how the Clintons are going after "The Press" (again) as a reason why Hillary has not gotten the nomination. I was wondering whether that is an argument that still works. In other words, is criticizing the "The Press" something that really resonates with a targeted audience (in this case Hillary's supporters)?

washingtonpost.com: The Land of Bluegrass, Bourbon and Kool-Aid (Post, May 20)

Matthew Mosk: Another excellent piece by my colleague Dana Milbank, I agree. The reason Sen. Clinton is going after the press seems fairly clear -- she is frustrated with the notion that television pundits and newspaper columnists are declaring her candidacy to be finished. She doesn't want to anger superdelegates, which has limited her ability to attack Sen. Obama directly. So her primary task now is to try and persuade the superdelegates to wait before deciding to commit. By focusing on the press, she can unload some of that frustration and at the same time try to convince the superdelegates to at least remain on the fence.

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Franconia, Va.: As one of the 1.5 million donors to Obama I always feel like there's an invisible footnote with my name in it when I see one of the campaign finance stories! Can you put my "investment" into perspective? I tried to space out my donations so I could give a little each month, and am assuming that will continue through the convention. What can his campaign do with those funds after the convention, or does he need to spend them all now? Can he use some of the money to help out the Democratic National Committee, which seems underfunded? And how does spending change after the primaries are over? I'm guessing fewer TV ads for now? Thanks for your help.

Matthew Mosk: Hello Franconia. It's a pleasure to speak with one of the millions of anonymous donors who have changed the nature of political fundraising forever.

While your individual donation may be small, collectively, the small donations pouring into the campaigns of Sens. Obama and Clinton have had a dramatic effect on the campaign. It's enabled them to spend more time in the field, talking with voters, instead of fundraising with wealthy donors. And there are many finance experts who believe it has helped democratize the political process by watering down the influence of big givers.

If Sen. Obama emerges as the presumptive nominee, he will use the money raised for the primary until he officially accepts the nomination at the Democratic National Convention. He is also raising money for the general election. If he opts out of public financing -- which many believe he will -- the money he raises over the Internet will play a critical part in paying for his television ads, his travel, his field operations, and other expenses during the general election.

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Fairfax County, Va.: What's up with the Edwards delegates? I had assumed that they would immediately go to whoever he endorsed. They do seem to be heading that way (with the exception of one who announced for Clinton months ago), but a few at a time instead of all on the day after the endorsement. There are now, I believe, nine of them declaring for Obama. What's up with that?

Matthew Mosk: The truth on delegates is that they are only committed to a candidate when they raise their hands at the convention. It is generally accepted that, in a case like this, Edwards's delegates will remain loyal to him, and move in a block where he tells them to. But they are under no formal obligation to do so.

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Alexandria, Va.: Which superdelegate will put Obama over the top?

Matthew Mosk: It's certainly possible, after the final primaries are held in South Dakota and Montana on June 3, that enough superdelegates will have made clear their intentions to make clear the identity of the nominee. As far as which superdelegate will have the most impact, there are a couple that come to mind. Al Gore certainly has the ability to carry many other superdelegates with him. So does House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But who will be the one that puts Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton over the top? Your guess is as good as mine!

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San Francisco: Is the story about the billionaire Clinton supporter who tried to buy the Young Democrats' superdelegates' votes true? Is it illegal?

washingtonpost.com: Superdelegates Turned Down $1 Million Offer From Clinton Donor (Huffington Post, May 19)

Matthew Mosk: This was an interesting wrinkle that popped up Monday. At the moment it amounts to a he said -- he said situation. The Huffington Post quotes several of the Young Democrats speaking without their names, saying longtime Clinton friend Haim Saban made an implicit offer of a $1 million contribution in exchange for two of the group's undeclared superdelegates getting behind Sen. Clinton. Saban denies this in no uncertain terms in the piece. Short of someone pulling out a tape recording of the offer, it's not clear to me how to resolve this.

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Washington: We keep hearing about the rising debt figures in the Clinton campaign ... $31 million being the latest. Is there any context for this? What is an average or normal debt load for a presidential campaign? Is it an extraordinary amount in and of itself, or simply in comparison to the Obama campaign?

Matthew Mosk: Good thing you asked, Washington. The only reliable figures we've seen show Sen. Clinton with just under $20 million in debt. Turns out the Los Angeles Times blog that was reporting the $31 million figure just posted this:

"Due to a mathematical error, Hillary Clinton's loans to herself were added twice in the calculation of this item. Her total debts are about $20 million, not $31 million. A corrected item covering the first five paragraphs of this one has been published here.)"

Nevertheless, a $20 million debt is nothing to sneeze at. It is far larger than typical for a presidential campaign. (Sen. Obama is carrying a $2 million debt right now, which is more in keeping with the task of turning around payments to vendors.) The Clintons have had an incredible capacity to raise money, though, and if she bows out of this race, she will have options for raising enough money to pay this all back.

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Hazlet, N.J.: I think the fact that Hillary can keep her campaign going while running into tremendous debt speaks volumes as to the kind of president she would be.

Matthew Mosk: Hi Hazlet. Not sure what to make of your comment. But I will point out that financing a campaign is unlike most any other task. Unlike a major corporation, the whole purpose of raising all this money (in this case more than $200 million) is to spend it all before the election. Sen. John F. Kerry was criticized in 2004 for reaching Election Day with money in the bank. So frugality is not necessarily a plus when you're running for office.

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Chicago: Good morning and thanks for taking my question. I thought it was interesting that Sen. Hagel -- who I thought was pretty close to Sen. McCain -- came to Sen. Obama's defense recently. Have you heard any talk about Sen. Obama picking Sen. Hagel as his running mate? That certainly would shore up his no-more-politics-as-usual-working-across-party-lines campaign theme.

Matthew Mosk: Thanks Chicago. This idea was floated earlier this week in a column in The Washington Post by David Ignatius.

He argued that "by reaching outside the Democratic Party for his vice presidential nominee -- tapping Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, say, or independent Mayor Michael Bloomberg from New York -- Obama would in an instant demonstrate that he truly means to change the divisive, lose-lose politics of Washington. It would offer a unity government for a country that seems to want one."

washingtonpost.com: A Test for Obama's Promises (Post, May 18)

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Clinton's fundraising: Matthew, don't fundraising figures need to be put in a bigger framework? For example, Clinton apparently raised $20 million last month, but she's supposedly $30 million in debt. Given that she apparently started the month $10 million in debt, doesn't that mean she actually raised negative $40 million?

Matthew Mosk: Thanks for this question.

I don't agree with the premise. Yes, reporting the debt is important. But the amount of money donors are willing to pony up for a candidate can be very telling -- especially when it comes to Internet contributions that flow in largely without the control of the campaign. When those numbers are high, as they were in the case of both Clinton and Obama last month, they signal continued interest in both candidacies. If Sen. Clinton had been unable to collect money online in April, it would have been a sure sign that her campaign was out of steam.

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Washington: What's the latest on the FEC situation? Have you heard any speculation from the Hill or elsewhere on how quickly Congress can name new commissioners? Is there any chance the White House will come up with another nominee who they know will be unacceptable to Democrats, in order to keep the umpires at bay during the election?

washingtonpost.com: Contested Nominee To FEC Drops Out (Post, May 17)

Matthew Mosk: Thanks for this, an FEC question.

For those who have not followed this, the Senate has been deadlocked over nominations to refill the Federal Election Commission, where four of six seats are vacant. The appointee holding up the process, Hans Von Spakovsky, recently withdrew his name from consideration. I think there is a desire within both presidential campaigns to see this resolved. I don't think either Sen. McCain or Sen. Obama want to see the election proceed without an umpire. I suspect this will be resolved in fairly short order as a result.

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Cape Coral, Fla.: How much of the contributions made to Hillary Clinton exceed the primary ceiling? Is it legal to use those contributions to retire her debt?

Matthew Mosk: Good question, Cape Coral. Candidates can collect $2,300 for the primary and another $2,300 for the general election from individual donors. Sen. Clinton has collected more than $20 million for the general election, but that cannot be used to retire her debt. If she does not become the nominee, all that money will have to be returned to the donors.

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Catonsville, Md.: washingtonpost.com headline: "Illinois senator passes threshold after big win in Oregon. His opponent, Hillary Clinton, won the night's other Democratic primary, in Kentucky." According to the headline, 58 percent to 42 percent is a big win, but a clearly larger (more than double) margin of victory -- 65 percent to 30 percent -- is a footnote. Explain how this is not biased journalism.

Matthew Mosk: Thanks Catonsville. I'll take a stab at explaining why this was not a biased view of things.

Both Sens. Clinton and Obama had big wins yesterday. Arguably more noteworthy, though, was that Sen. Obama surpassed the majority of pledged delegates. A number of superdelegates have said the most important factor they will consider when choosing which candidate to back is which one claimed the most pledged delegates during the primary process. That is why the Oregon win was the more important news of the night.

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Belfast, Maine: Will Florida be essential to Obama in November? Will he put enough other states in play to be able to lose Florida?

Matthew Mosk: Thanks, Belfast. There was an interesting piece in The New York Times that took a first look at the general election map. Here's what they identified as the crucial states:

"Both sides say the states clearly in play now include Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

"Republicans said they hoped to put New Jersey and possibly California into play; Democrats said African-Americans could make Mr. Obama competitive in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Mr. Obama's advisers said they had a strong chance of taking Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia away from the Republican column."

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Long Beach, Calif.: In your opinion, who would make the best vice presidential choice for Obama in terms of garnering donations? And who would make the best vice president for Hillary if she won the nomination, as it applies to fundraising?

Matthew Mosk: There have been a number of questions today about veep selections. I would encourage all of you to check out The Fix column at washingtonpost.com, authored by superstar political journalist Chris Cillizza. He has been following the vice presidential situation closely.

As for the question of who would help most on fundraising, I'm not sure the Democrat would factor that in very seriously. Democrats have had no problem raising money this year. If anything, it would be Sen. McCain who would want to find someone who could help on that front.

washingtonpost.com: The Fix's Friday Line: Pin the VP on the Nominee (washingtonpost.com, March 28)

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Vice President: Can I just say something about the Clinton surrogate choice that gets "floated" out there? I am not an Clinton fan at all, and I don't want her on the ticket -- but if Obama goes with one of her surrogates, I do feel that is unjust. If you are trying to appease her supporters, go with her -- she did all the work for the past year. Why in the world should Ed Rendell get on the ticket ahead of her, unless she truly does not want it?

Matthew Mosk: There is certainly some sentiment out there for a joint ticket. If Obama becomes the presumptive nominee, I would suspect he and his advisers would have to have a serious discussion about it.

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Matthew Mosk: Well this has been a fun discussion today. Thanks for all the great questions. The good news is, this election has six more months to keep us all captivated. I look forward to more discussions as it rolls along.

Have a great day.

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