They might be raising $150 million dollars in one month, but don’t expect the Obama campaign to be paying their own bills:
Two weeks ago, Barack Obama stopped in Newport News, attracting about 18,000 people to downtown, packing Victory Landing Park and infusing a depressed neighborhood with excitement not often seen there.
The Oct. 4 event — for which the city had only two days to prepare — was a logistical challenge. “It was a big deal,” said Neil Morgan, an assistant city manager who oversees the city’s public safety departments. “It consumed a lot of time and energy for a brief time. And it went really smoothly.”
But once all the hustle and bustle settled and the last campaign signs and buttons were swept out of the park, the event came with a $20,000 to $30,000 price tag for Newport News for additional security for Obama, most of it for overtime for the city’s public safety employees such as police officers.
In light of the recent economic gloom and doom, some city officials wondered whether the city could recoup some dollars from the campaign.
The answer: Hardly. The Obama campaign reimbursed the city for $4,693 worth of bottled drinking water for the crowd. That surprised at least one council member. “I am just looking for money,” Councilwoman Madeline McMillan said.
McCain/Palin’s rally in Virginia Beach was paid for by the McCain campaign and actually made Virginia Beach money. You couldn’t ask for a starker contrast between government subsidizing versus pay as you go.
