Clinton Campaign Is ‘Really, Really Cheap’ and Proud of It
Political campaigns can be very expensive affairs. All the millions of dollars raised for various contenders is meant to bolster the candidate’s chances in the coming election. Like back in 2008, when Hillary Clinton reportedly spent $19.2 million on chartered private planes so that she could reach all the campaign stops on time.
But what about the rest of the staffers who populate these political machines? They’re the ones who make the mechanism tick, but according to the Washington Post, 2016 efforts are skimping wherever possible — especially on Clinton’s second adventure. This means fewer plane rides and more crowded buses.
A reporter accompanied John Podesta, the chairman of Clinton’s presidential campaign, during his subway and bus rides from New York to Washington, D.C. And not a private, for-campaign-use-only bus, but a $30 public one populated by other commuters and travelers.
According to Podesta, “It’s become solidarity to take it,” but the article suggests many of Clinton’s staffers are balking at the situation — especially since they’re also required to use their own cell phones and other personal means of communication. No campaign phones, no land lines, nada.
The reasoning behind Clinton’s newfound frugality? It’s primarily Robby Mook‘s doing, who serves as Clinton’s campaign manager and “proudly tells staffers and donors alike that he is ‘really, really cheap.'” But it’s also a bit of political theater, “to demonstrate that Clinton is buckling down and making a 180-degree turn away from the dysfunction of her failed 2008 campaign.”
It seems to be working, though the campaign declined to release figures from its spending report — a coveted PR document that’s due July 15. And while it simply looks like Mook et al. are being a bunch of cheap bastards, their mandated effort to shed the skin of 2008 isn’t utterly devoid of compassion. All official travel is reimbursed by the campaign.
Cheapness aside, Podesta doesn’t seem to mind. Even gives the reporter (and other D.C. readers) a friendly jab, noting that “The Washington powerbrokers don’t seem to be riding this bus.”
[h/t Washington Post]
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