Dear Mr. Plouffe

To: David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Dear Mr. Plouffe,

I have read with great alarm press reports that the Barack Obama campaign is in discussions to pay off the approximately $25 million campaign debt Hillary Clinton has generated in her increasingly desperate and destructive bid for the Democratic nomination. As one of over 1.5 million loyal contributors to the Obama for America campaign, I want to strongly and unequivocally express to you my opposition to any such plan.

Hillary Clinton has conducted one of the most divisive and racially charged Democratic primary campaigns in recent memory. She has waged this campaign while being bankrolled by a small group of wealthy Democratic power brokers and her personal fortune of over $109 million. As the campaign has gotten more desperate, her wealthy backers have threatened the Speaker of the House, the Democratic party chairman, and others to continue to back Hillary Clinton's quixotic quest for the nomination. She has launched negative racially charged attacks, attempted to undermine the general election viability of the presumptive Democratic nominee, and disparaged your donors - we the American people - as "latte-drinkers", "eggheads" and "cultists". She has done this while being consistently and soundly defeated by the very people she has disparaged at the final metric of consequence in a democracy - the ballot box.

Hillary Clinton loaned her campaign over $11 million from her own fortune. She loaned this money to purchase negative ads against Barack Obama. She loaned this money knowing there was no possibility of her winning the nomination. Among the many people her campaign owes money is Mark Penn and his company. Mark Penn (who is owed about $5 million), her former chief strategist, was in large part responsible for her scorched-Earth campaign tactics. She also owes substantial sums to well-meaning small businesses that provided services to her campaign assuming that they would be paid back.

I can see a case being made to pay back money owed by her campaign to American businesses that have been cheated by her campaign. However, I can see no rationale to use our campaign contributions to pay back Hillary Clinton, Mark Penn and others involved with their shameful campaign. The responsibility to settle these debts lies with the Hillary Clinton campaign and her donors - not us. While the American people struggle to hold on to their homes as Washington tells them they have been irresponsible with their finances, it would be a grave insult for the Obama campaign - a campaign built on the aspirations of the American people - to bail out rich millionaires like Hillary Clinton and Mark Penn using the hard earned money of common American citizens.

I must make clear that I did not contribute to your campaign to have my hard earned money be diverted to Hillary Clinton's or Mark Penn's personal bank accounts. I contributed to Obama for America because I believe in the candidate and his vision of America. I exercised my first amendment rights, along with over 1.5 million others,  to make that vision a reality.

However, there now appears to be a real risk that my campaign contribution will end up in Hillary Clinton's coffers. To clarify your position and reassure your supporters, I urge you to publicly offer a statement on your campaign's position on this issue. Until that time, to avoid any misappropriation, I will withhold further contributions to your campaign. I am confident that the Obama for America campaign will make the right decision and resolve this matter without delay.

Sincerely,

Mash

[Cross posted at my blog.]

UPDATE:The New York Times article that I cited has been updated with a note that says the money would note be taken from Obama's campaign account:

Update on Debt: If Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton would happen to broker a deal to help pay off her campaign debts – this remains a big if, aides said, because nothing has been formally discussed – the money would not be taken from Mr. Obama’s campaign account. Instead, he would have to make a fund-raising appeal on her behalf, asking people to contribute.
The remarks by Mr. Obama earlier today stirred alarm among several contributors. They said they did not give money to him simply so he could turn it over to Mrs. Clinton.
Advisers to Mr. Obama sought to tamp down concern over the discussion. On one hand, they are trying to extend an olive branch to Mrs. Clinton and her supporters, whom they will need if Mr. Obama becomes the nominee. On the other hand, they do not want to alienate loyal contributors who were responsible for Mr. Obama’s fund-raising prowess.

For now at least, the latter hand – not helping pay off the debt – seems to be the most likely course of action.

Several commenters have also said that using contributions that we have already made to the Barack Obama campaign to pay off Clinton's debt would be illegal. If I have a link to the relevant law, I will update this post further.