Clinton campaign pays IU $19K of $55K debt

Hillary Clinton’s campaign paid $19,372 of the $55,000 it owed IU on Wednesday, said IU Spokesman Larry MacIntyre. The money pays for Bill Clinton’s visit April 2 to IU.\nAs for the Obama campaign, MacIntyre said, it has paid for the Dave Matthews concert April 6 and his own appearance April 30 at Assembly Hall.\nMacIntyre said IU officials predicted the Clinton campaign’s debt even before she arrived on campus.\n“We were certainly aware of the likelihood that there might be a delay in payment,” he said. “Political campaigns are notorious credit risks. They always have been for all parties, not just Democrats.”\nIU Auditorium Director Doug Booher agreed with MacIntyre, adding that the situation isn’t out of the ordinary for anyone who uses IU’s facilities to give lectures, speeches and set up other events.\n“Depending on the timing, this seems to happen with student groups and private clients,” he said. “This is something that is not out of the norm.”\nBooher said clients have 30 days to pay their debt before they receive a second notice from the Auditorium. However, he said he couldn’t recall a time when clients failed to pay after the second notice. The $55,000 from the Clinton campaign is three weeks overdue, meaning it has one more week to pay before it receives a second notice.\n“It’s not totally out of the ordinary, and most clients takes care of it within the 30 days,” Booher said. “They tend to resolve it.”\nMacIntyre said despite the failure to pay the debt, he is glad Clinton and her campaign decided to take up IU’s invitation because IU isn’t a regular stop for presidential candidates.\n“We were well aware of the risks, but we thought it was important to have her campaign come to IU,” he said. “We felt it was a good thing for students to see her in person. Opportunities like this don’t come very often.”