Hillary Clinton scrambles to reduce campaign debt

NEW YORK (AP) — With just weeks before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in, his choice for secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is scrambling to reduce massive campaign debt before federal ethics rules prohibit her from doing so.

Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will headline a major debt retirement event in New York on Dec. 15 with “Ugly Betty” star America Ferrera as master of ceremonies. Tickets range from $50 to $1,000, with top donors earning a premium seat and a backstage photo with the former first lady.

Clinton also plans to sell a children’s book, titled “Dreams Taking Flight” by author Kathleen Krull, about her pioneering candidacy. Clinton’s mother, Dorothy Rodham, planned to send an e-mail to supporters later this week asking them to buy the book to help raise funds to pay down Clinton’s debt.

On Tuesday, a day after Obama announced she would serve as his top diplomat, Bill Clinton signed an e-mail to supporters asking them to send a note of congratulations to his wife and included a link for contributing to her debt retirement.

The urgency is rooted in the size of the New York senator’s unpaid bills and the fund-raising restrictions she will face once she joins Obama’s Cabinet.

At the beginning of November, Clinton owed $7.5 million to vendors from her failed presidential bid, according to campaign finance records. The largest share of the debt — about $5.3 million — is owed to the polling firm of Mark Penn, the Clintons’ longtime political strategist. She owes hundreds of thousands of dollars for printing, equipment rental, phone banks and other services.

Clinton has slowly been trimming the debt since suspending her campaign last June, partly with Obama’s help.