I don't know how this works in American politics: does the president-elect have a government-provided budget? Or are various activities that the Obama team are undertaking paid for by the Democratic party? Or something else?
That's a good question. I know the Obama campain is still stuggling to pull out of substancial debt from the campain work (since they took no money from lobbiests), so I doubt it comes from them. Perhapsm there is a special trasition fund for new presidents coming into office. I wonder where that information could be found.
This is the first I've heard of the Obama campaign being in debt. Do you have a source for this?
I read that the Clinton campaign was in debt when Senator Clinton pulled out of the race, and that the Obama campaign was trying to help her raise money.
If so I am slightly confused on what the emails asking for donations were for, but them I will admit after just getting over a nearly week long bout of flu my details on the reasoning for the fund raising emails from the Obama campain might be a bit fuzzy.
Ah, okay. Thanks for the info. I knew the email said something about debt, and Obama's name. I'll be glad when I get back at least what is left of my brain with two kids in the house. :)
My understanding is that transitional expenses are government-covered, other activiites come from donations and party funds. How that's exactly accounted for, I don't know.
There's a good piece here at Slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2203929/) that covers some of it. Basically, the government provides office space and some money (estimated at $5.2 million), while other money is being raised through donations to the Obama Transition Project (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/us/politics/12obama.html). They're not taking money from PACs, and there will be a $5,000 cap on individual donations.
Not really "lobbyists." PACs are basically tax-free committees that pool political contributions from a particular group for donation to politicians. Tax code limits what they can contribute for, and while they may employ lobbyists, that's an oversimplification of what a PAC is. PACs also can purchase issue-advocacy ads, for example.
Political Action Committee. Sometimes they're organized around a particular issue (e.g., solar power advocacy), or for a specific party or candidate, or by a specific group (e.g., National Realtors Association).
There's transition office space for the president-elect (under a law passed in the 1960s, I believe). On November 5, the appropriate bureaucrat handed Obama's people the keys to office space, with phones, computers, etc., which is set up in advance, because they know that someone will be elected. [I don't know if they set it up ahead of time, just in case, when an incumbent is running for reelection.]
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Date: 2008-11-19 02:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-19 02:11 pm (UTC)I read that the Clinton campaign was in debt when Senator Clinton pulled out of the race, and that the Obama campaign was trying to help her raise money.
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