Feb. 1, 2008
McCain Needed Life Insurance To Get Loan
Washington Post: Bank Required Special Step To Provide Money That Helped McCain Put His Campaign On Track
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, left, walks with Republican presidential hopeful, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., center, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, right, as they tour of Solar Integrated Technologies in Los Angeles, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008. (AP)
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By last November, John McCain's presidential campaign was broke. To survive, he offered his fundraising lists as collateral for a $3 million line of credit from a local bank. But obtaining the loan required an unusual extra step: He had to take out a special life insurance policy in case he did not survive the campaign.
At the time, the 71-year-old senator's effort was more than $500,000 in the red, and the bank's line of credit was a pivotal lifeline that allowed him to make a strong showing in New Hampshire and eventually vault into the front-runner's position.
McCain's campaign is now back on solid financial ground, having raised at least $7 million this month. His victories in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida have loosened the spigot. In recent days, he has held packed fundraisers in Washington, Florida and California, and 10 days ago, a single event in New York raised $1 million.
Anthony Corrado, a campaign finance expert at Colby College, said he had never heard of a candidate having to secure a loan with a life insurance policy.
"It was a big gamble, but I think one of the most important strategic moves the McCain campaign has made," Corrado said. McCain was "rolling the dice to get the money early, and if they won, it would be easy to repay."
The financial health of all the campaigns became modestly more clear yesterday, as several candidates submitted their 2007 year-end reports to the Federal Election Commission.
McCain's chief rival for the GOP nomination, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, raised $9 million during the last three months of 2007 and lent his campaign $18 million of his own money. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee raised $9 million for the year. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who dropped out of the White House race Wednesday, raised $59 million last year. Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) received $20 million in the quarter, more than any other Republican.
McCain's finance reports provide new details about how desperate his financial situation was after his campaign suffered a seismic shake-up in the middle of last summer.
The senator from Arizona raised $24 million during the first six months of 2007, half what the campaign had projected. His initial plans called for highly paid consultants, state directors, large operations in California and New York, and state offices around the country.
"Basically, the campaign had overestimated what it could raise, and had overspent," said Charles R. Black Jr., an adviser to McCain. "We had to make dramatic cutbacks."
By late summer, the campaign had cut staff levels in half and closed offices in 20 states. McCain's sole focus became New Hampshire, and virtually all of the campaign's money -- much of it borrowed -- paid for travel expenses and a short burst of television ads there.
"I can't imagine any other campaign doing what he did," said Rebecca Donatelli, who runs McCain's Internet fundraising operation. "We were down to nobody. To nothing. But somehow it was okay because Senator McCain was in the room."
In addition to closing offices, the campaign cut loose political advisers and consultants, including four top strategists who had been paid a combined $400,000 during the first six months of the year, records show.
"We cut a lot of staff. We cut consultants. We cut it down to a bare-bones operation," said Carla Eudy, a senior adviser to McCain. "We lowered our overhead drastically."
She said her top priority was to keep the structure of volunteer fundraisers in place despite news reports suggesting that the campaign was in deep financial trouble.The Money Race
Check out the latest tallies for Republicans and Democrats including how much they've raised and spent since the campaign began.
"No one left us," Eudy said. "That was a key to our later success. It would have looked like we were having a mass exodus -- it would have been harder for us to stay in the game."
According to a week-by-week analysis of contributions and spending, the campaign was $300,000 in debt by early June. Then it slowed its spending and nearly broke even over the summer. By November, the campaign was again in debt, and it continued to lose money until McCain began drawing on the loan that month. That left him with an estimated $872,000 going into the New Hampshire primary.
"I've got to tell you, I cannot come up with another example of a candidate who went so far into the hole without any assurance of being able to dig out of it," said Bruce Buchanan, a University of Texas government professor.
McCain's aides were worried enough to flirt with the idea of accepting federal funds, and they reorganized their financial accounting to prepare for it. But the aides say the campaign is now unlikely to do that, because it would be forced to respect the spending caps that accompany such funds. "It would have been almost irresponsible," Black said. "We knew that this time we would have to persevere without taking the match."
After obtaining the $3 million line of credit from Fidelity & Trust Bank in Bethesda in November, McCain drew $2.97 million between Nov. 18 and Dec. 16, according to campaign records. The chief asset among $5 million pledged as collateral was McCain's huge fundraising lists.
Cleta Mitchell, a Republican campaign finance lawyer who has been a critic of McCain's, said she believes the arrangement raises serious questions. "Did they base this loan on the fact that, even if he lost, he would still be a sitting senator and able to raise money?" she asked. "In my mind, that raises questions about whether he complied with Senate ethics rules," which bar members from using their position to negotiate financial terms that an average citizen could not.
Trevor Potter, the campaign's lawyer, said the lending arrangement was vetted for the campaign and the bank. In addition to producing the fundraising lists as collateral, Potter said, the campaign promised that McCain would continue to make appeals to donors on the lists "as needed to pay off the loan."
Because McCain would have to be alive to give the fundraising lists their value, Potter said, the campaign took out the insurance policy on him.
Potter said that there is "no personal relationship between the senator and the officers at the bank," and adde: "A number of the officers at the bank have made loans to presidential campaigns going back 25 years. They knew exactly how these loans were done."
The gamble started to pay off, campaign aides said, when McCain began his "No Surrender Tour." The name reflected the tour's focus on promoting the troop buildup strategy in Iraq, but within the McCain camp it had a second meaning.
"He started getting people to say, 'Well, let's not write this guy off yet,' " Black said. "Most people I've ever known would have thrown in the towel. . . . He saw a path to get out, and he took it."
Staff writer Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report.
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
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Republicans would rather sacrifice the next 4 years to the Democrats than have someone from their own party to blame when the economy fails. Romney is the only candidate qualified and proven to be able to fix our economy.
"He had to take out a special life insurance policy in case he did not survive the campaign."
A "special" policy?
Well, aren''t we special? (or too damm OLD).
Do this country a favor McOld and let someone else do the job.
You aren''t doing ANYBODY ANY favors by being the oldest living creature to attempt to be president.
Get into a nice retirement home and tell your stories.
Take some time to see how you''ve destroyed the fabric of America.
It would kill him!! Whomever gets elected will have the toughest job ever and McCain has neither the youth or the health to do it.
Buh bye neocons!
---- Who needs a Prsident who took lessons from Rudy ---
This is the same "Bagdad" John who called a young listener in his audience "a little creep" recently, for questioning if he were too old to be running for the title of Great Emperor. Strangely, he never did call Chuck Norris a "little creep" when Norris raised the same point and it is doubtful that he called any one of the bank officials that, when he took out his line of credit!
Of course, now that he has the support of the Governer Terminator of California, he will leave any scores to settle in the hands of Mr. Arnold, leaving "Bagdad" John to concentrate of his fellow opponents, "Mormom Mittens" Romney, "Huckles" Hucklebee, and "Underdog" Ron Paul.
SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
-Had McCain not won in NH, his campaign would have been banckrupted, a similar situation with what America is undergoing now with Walking-Liar Bush. This is the type of candidacy the Repukons are sorting for America, a bankrupted one.
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AMNESTY-JOHN is the poster old-man for MANDATORY age limits for ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS. Just think how embarrassing it will be for Americans when AMNESTY-JOHN wets himself -or worse- in meetings with leaders of other countries. It would be just as bad as having a total moron representing America, and EVERYBODY knows how humiliating that has been.
One important thing to note - AMNESTY-JOHN''s multimillionaire, beer-distributor wife refuses to provide even a penny to his campaign. Smart, very smart. Perhaps she doesn''t like his positions either!
If AMNESTY-JOHN gets the nomination we can change the name of the Republican Party to the "Democratic-Lite Party". Our two party system will then consist of Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber!
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Posted by cbscrash07 at 12:56 PM
Just to make sure, can you write flip flopper a few more times?
That is such a childish term.
I wonder if the guys that have now dropped out and endorsed him can sort of shovel their campaign funds over to McCain. Can they return all the donations left over and urge those people to send the donation over to McCain''s campaign?
Or do they actually donate themselves now?
or urge their staff and paid operatives to donate to the candidate they endorsed?
I''d like to know all that stuff.
You ought to check your facts first instead of just drinking Romney''s Koolaid before making falst statements puffin up his record
Any claim against Romney''s records should be reported with facts, otherwise the claims against him show the person to be a fraud.
--Posted by vivaviva80 at 01:34 PM : Feb 01, 2008
People around the world should watch the USA. This is what a country looks like that is crumbling and falling into chaos. Remember what the USA used to be. We were great once. Now we rant and attack each other on cbsnews.com. This wonderful thing called the Internet, and we can''t use it to foster an intelligent, informative, enlightening discussion. Very sad.
Any claim against Romney''''s records should be reported with facts, otherwise the claims against him show the person to be a fraud.
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Posted by news4all at 01:37 PM : Feb 01, 2008
+ report abuse
I could give a rats behind what YOU say his record is... I can''t figure it out myself but I can''t hear ONE thing he''s proposing that is new or different from what got us in this hole to begin with. Remember the Fascist started off with a balanced budget and a surplus. Looking at where we''re at a 6 year old can figure out we aren''t going in the RIGHT direction. Especially with the 935 LIES told to start a war, he supports, that did not have to be are added to the list. Sieg Heil Bush!!
Self Made Billionaire, Mitt Romney, President
Fred Thompson VP
Giuliani, Sec State
Tom Tancredo;Int. Secy
NO DEMO-ALQAIDAS IN THE WHITE HOUSE!!!
macobahill= Gov leeches.
The claims complimenting his record should be reported with facts, otherwise, the claims for him show the person to be a fraud. And Romney too.
McCain has raised at least $7 million this month, vaulting his campaign coffers into the black after he took out the loan in November while the campaign was $500,000 in debt, The Washington Post reported Friday.
Finance reports for 2007 submitted Thursday to the Federal Election Commission revealed the loan, as well as the special life insurance policy the bank required McCain to take out in case he died before the end of his presidential campaign.
"It was a big gamble, but I think one of the most important strategic moves the McCain campaign has made," Anthony Corrado, a campaign finance expert at Colby College, told the Post, adding that he was unaware of any other cases where a candidate needed a life insurance policy to secure a loan.
McCain was "rolling the dice to get the money early, and if they won, it would be easy to repay," he said.
Do any of you folks that apply for a loan need to take an insurance policy out?
Pry not, i think it was only because he is quite old to be taking out a 3 million dollar loan.
Multiple times too because he keeps lying to the public about how great he is.
In fact, the first four items listed that McCain said about Romney were proven Correct and Romney wrong in his denials. from the last debate.
We don%u2019t like McCain and obviously the media does. They are purposefully withholding relevant information from the public. For example, John McCain has cancer, specifically melanoma, which is a very aggressive form of cancer. You can%u2019t ignore that with a candidate that would be 76 before leaving office!
Few Americans know that McCain cheated on his first wife with a woman 17 years younger than himself. People like him because they feel he has integrity, but they don%u2019t know the entire story.
I%u2019m sure this will all come out, AFTER McCain gets the nomination. We can%u2019t wait until then. Spread the word now!
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I just continue to laugh at stupid and ignorant posts like this. Democrats bickering and hateful attacks will pull them down again. Some JUST DO NOT GET IT. Obama or Hillary, yeah - enjoy that. Unless you are onb welfare, then it''s probably a good thing. Stop your whining and ****.
I%u2019m sure this will all come out, AFTER McCain gets the nomination. We can%u2019t wait until then. Spread the word now! Posted by woman76
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LOL - this crack W H O R E should change her bame to Jealous Woman. Typical dirtbag
[Posted by scottyusa at 02:08 PM : Feb 01, 2008]
he''s 71 ... his campaign was broke ... he has less likelyhood to be able to produce $3M (as repayment) than say someone that''s 45 (all other factors being the same).
now if he was trying to get a sub-prime mortgage ... he could have done that over the phone.
It''s going to be very interesting who he picks for a VP. Jeb Bush? Giuliani won''t help. No way for Romney. Liberman?
It''s going to be very interesting who he picks for a VP. Jeb Bush? Rudy won''t help. No way for Romney. Liberman? That said he is going to be a prove a tough fight.
Obama is the guy to go up against McCain for the Dems.
Good analysis from -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerome-karabel/barack-obama-the-democra_b_84379.html
Fred Thompson was another repug candidate who was too old and sick for anyone to believe he''d live through a 4 year presidency. But this bank didn''t even believe that McCain would live through the campaign! That''s a life expectency of LESS THAN 1 year!
It doesn''t inspire much confidence in McCain, does it?
Add in the fact that he''s still not right in the head after his POW years (He suffers from Stockholm syndrome. When Bush''s men said mean things about him in the last campaign, he turned right around and started licking Bush''s boots!), and you''ve just gotta hand it to the repugs for knowing how to pick ''em!
As far as McCain, thanks to Washington Post and CBS News for publishing this story about McCain. I am tired of the media pushing McCain as the front runner.
These news agencies know that those of us that care about secure borders, low taxes, illegals being sent home, economic growth in the USA do not support McCain.
Even Reagans son, Michael, doesn''t think McCain is a conservative. Pay attention RNC. We will not support McCain!!
put''s McCain to SHAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The elitist billionaire boys club of media barons have
monopolized the entire mass media news service industry for their wealthy "social class" and they control the outcome of the elections in the U.S. with the tremendous power they enjoy with this illlegal monopoly and the unlawful censorship of RON PAUL. They want to control the outcome of the 2008 elections!!!!
THOSE INVOLVED ARE; ABC, MSNBC, FOX, CNN, CBS
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
TIME MAGAZINE
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
MIAMI-HERALD
SAN DIEGO HERALD TRIBUNE
Just to name a few................BEWARE......
Getting life insurance to get a loan is standard practice when your age/health/demographics number crosses a certain threshold .. whether you are John McCain or Joe Blow from Okomo
What else most american''s don''t know about McWar is that
his Arizona constituent''s are trying to RECALL him for
selling out the people with his immigration plan. His wife is also a very, very RICH woman. She is the heir
to the distributor Anheuser Busch. So if you hate Mc Cain you can boycott ANHEUSER BUSCH. Another thing
if McCain gets the nomination, Cindy McCain should be
very worried about. Cindy McCain got caught a couple
of years ago stealing prescription drugs from a charity I think she was representing. IT WAS VERY
EMBARRASSING FOR JOHNNY BOY....so that will eventually
come out. You can even gooogle "Cindy McCain stealing
drugs" and see for yourself. GO RON PAUL........
RON PAUL KNOWS MORE ABOUT THE ECONOMY AND WILL GET
IT ON TRACK BEFORE ANY ONE OF THESE CANDIDATES CAN...
Posted by cyberus at 05:21 PM : Feb 01, 2008
But Joe Blow from Okomo isn''t running for president.
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http://www.theodoresworld.net/archives/2008/01/post_25.html
BARRACK OBAMA''S CHURCH HONERS RACIST NATION OF ISLAM LEADER,
LOUIS FARRAKHAN WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.
http://www.newsmax.com/kessler/farrakhan_support/2008/01/17/65177.html