Obama ended his campaign so flush with cash he’s telling staffers to keep the change – and then some.
Long-suffering political footsoldiers who toiled tirelessly, at least since September, to put Obama in the White House recently learned they will be getting extra paychecks worth a month’s salary, the Daily News has learned.
And boy, are they grateful.
“I think it’s a very nice gesture for people who slaved away and sacrificed for the past year,” said one pleased ex-staffer.
……”It was totally unexpected, and you can’t believe how helpful this is with the holidays coming,” the lower-level worker said. “A lot of people thought they were going to be broke and would have to try to find a job in this rotten economy. It’s a huge help.”
In addition to the cold cash, staffers also have the option of keeping their campaign-issued computers and BlackBerrys – but must pay income tax on the hardware if they do.
It’s an almost unprecedented move at the end of a presidential campaign, even a winning one, because usually they are flat broke, having taken public financing and gone through every last penny.
But Obama skipped public financing and raised more than $600 million, including more than $150 million in September, and nearly $40 million in the first couple of weeks of October.
If this silver parachute approaches his September payroll, it’ll be worth upward of $3 million.
A bunch of John McCain staffers will get checks that cover much of this month, but it’s nothing like the widespread lucre flowing around Obamaland.
“They certainly didn’t pay bonuses in the McCain campaign,” one ex-staffer there said.
ACORN must be having an orgasm.
Hey Obamessiah, I need cash. Spread the wealth.