Clinton debt between $20 and $30 million & rising

It took 20 years for John Glenn, the former astronaut and Democratic senator, to repay the debts that he ran up in his failed bid for the presidential nomination in 1984.

Nobody is predicting that Hillary Clinton, whose campaign debts are estimated at between $20m and $30m – and rising – would take that long to meet her obligations. But the financial strain is getting more difficult with each day.

Having raised little more than $1m (€650,000, £510,000) since her defeat in North Carolina and narrow victory in Indiana last Tuesday, compared to $10m in the days following her Pennsylvania win last month, Mrs Clinton’s decision to fight on is almost certainly adding to her mountain of debts.

“I don’t recall the last time any candidate faced withdrawal from the race with debts of this magnitude,” says Michael Toner, the former head of the Federal Election Commission. “She began the race with the most formidable money machine in modern history and she looks likely to end it in record debt.”

She is toast. This may well roll over to any future campaigns of hers.