You remember Craig James, right? The SMU football star-turned ESPN broadcaster-turned stick-pin doll of Red Raiders everywhere? And how he ran for Senate and lost in embarrassing fashion?
Well, losing that badly isn't cheap, and seeing as he doesn't really have a job at the moment, he's having trouble paying off his campaign debt, as the Star-Telegram noted today.
"First and foremost, the Message" -- the 'M' is presumably capitalized because James was merely acting God's earthly representative -- "was well received across the great State of Texas," he wrote in a letter to a supporter who kicked in $5. And it really was an awesome campaign that totally would have been successful if there had only been more time and money, which prompts James to bring up a related point.
"Unfortunately, we are left with debt. It's difficult to raise funds after a defeat. I was honored to have had your support and would ask you to consider another donation to Craig James for U.S. Senate to help me retire this debt. Federal law allows an individual to contribute up to $2,500 and $5,000 for a couple."
Because a guy who chipped in $5 to a losing campaign is obviously going to increase his contribution by several orders of magnitude to a candidate whose already lost.
James doesn't mention exactly how much cash he needs in the letter, but according to his final campaign filing, he spent about $300,000.
