Clinton could use some of Obama's spare change

Dan Janison | dan.janison@newsday.com

June 23, 2008

If Sen. Barack Obama is an agent for change, his rivals old and new might want to ask him to spare some.

Today Obama plows ahead with the title of front-runner-flush-with-funds while the vacationing Sen. Hillary Clinton settles into her Democratic Party status as proud-runner-up-in-the-red.

Their financial role reversal from less than a year ago remains a stunning force in the presidential race.

Last week, Clinton e-mailed a poignant and colorful campaign "photo album" to her supporters that includes her key concession quote: "Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it."

This was as much a pitch as a consolation. Below the album a big "Contribute" button links the supporter to the Web site of her campaign, which ended millions of dollars in debt beyond the $11 million in loans from her personal funds. Clinton's backers tell Newsday that as long as she remains a New York senator she should have little trouble eventually raising the funds.

All this served as an ironic backdrop last week as Obama decided to blatantly break a public promise he made in November to "aggressively pursue an agreement" with the Republican nominee "to preserve a publicly financed general election." Obama, who it turns out vastly outraised John McCain, clearly calculated that this advantage, derived from donations modest and large, will offset the moral blowback from, among others, a foe who waved the flag of campaign-finance reform long before Obama joined the Senate - even as his party didn't.

POLITICS OF ILLEGALS: The State Senate gave one-house approval to a measure, sponsored by Sen. John Flanagan (R,C,I-East Northport) and backed by other Long Island Republicans, that would require proof of citizenship, age and residency from New Yorkers registering to vote. The law now requires registrants to swear or affirm citizenship. The bill is expected to die in the Assembly.

DISTANCING HIMSELF: It strikes some observers at the Capitol that Gov. David A. Paterson might be overdoing the private message that his administration represents a total change from predecessor Eliot Spitzer. Paterson is in office because Spitzer chose him as a running mate against the advice of some senior Democrats, then won in a landslide. Paterson has changed top personnel and the tone of dealings with other key pols, but basic changes in impact or philosophy remain to be seen.

BOND INTRIGUE: State Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo, who was a trusted Spitzer aide for many years, may be on a hot seat as he faces a tough problem involving one of the companies his office regulates. Details are daunting, but the bottom line is that Dinallo faces a high-stakes choice of whether to push MBIA Inc., a major insurer of municipal bonds, to put $900 million cash into its insurance unit.