Dem
51
GOP
49
We've had a number of items this week in response to the Q3 FEC filing deadline. And hopefully you can stand at least one more, about the presidential campaign that has the highest amount of debt. We will tell you whose campaign it is later, in case you want to take your best guess right now.
What we'll tell you, as you ponder it, is that the presidential campaign with the most debt does not involve someone who is currently running for president. Recall the familiar announcement that "[X] is suspending their campaign for [Y]." As long as the campaign is suspended, as opposed to terminated, the campaign organization can continue to take in and spend money. But until their balance sheet is zero, this also means they have to continue keeping the FEC updated, quarter after quarter, even if the campaign is no longer a going concern.
Unless a failed candidate for office plans to run again or to run for some other position, and so decides to try to retain a nest egg, campaigns are generally in the red when they suspend operations. Some of the more decent politicos do what they can to settle all accounts. John Glenn, for example, worked for more than 20 years to settle all accounts from his 1984 presidential bid. However, if it's a less decent politico, there isn't all that much a vendor can do to force payment from a campaign that has no cash left, since the candidate themselves is not personally liable for the debts.
Why would a vendor stick their neck out, knowing how the system works? Well, it's undoubtedly exciting to be involved with such a high-profile client. Further, some vendors enter into the arrangement knowing full well that the debts incurred can turn into leverage. Scholars have confirmed that owing money can have a distinct effect on the officeholder's voting behavior (see this PDF for one example). On the other hand, there are also vendors who had no ulterior motives, who did business with a losing horse, and who got left high and dry. In other words, the current system offers something of a backdoor around campaign finance laws, while also leaving open the possibility that small businesses get the short end of the stick.
There's likely no way to fix the situation, and even if there was, that solution is unlikely to get through Congress as currently constituted, and then to stand up to the inevitable Supreme Court challenge. Still, it's regrettable. Oh, and the presidential campaign with the highest debt load is... Gingrich 2012, which owes nearly $5 million to its creditors. Needless to say, those who are owed money shouldn't hold their collective breath waiting for Newt to do the right thing, especially since he's barely lifted a finger to defray that debt in the last 11 years. (Z)