Hillary Clinton raffles off Bill to pay debts

In contrast to Barack Obama - who it was revealed this week earned $2.6m in 2008 thanks mainly to royalties from his autobiographies - Hillary Clinton is still struggling to pay off her 2008 presidential campaign debts. Now, it seems, she has found a financial solution - raffling off her husband Bill.

Despite paying off a hefty chunk of her outstanding campaign bills - accounts released by the US Federal Election Commission showed she paid off $3m in the first quarter of 2009 - Clinton still owes $2.3m to a final creditor, the pollster Mark Penn.

In one last push to pay off the debt, Clinton supporters have been asked to buy a $5 raffle ticket with a chance to win three prizes, including a day in New York with Bill Clinton. The lucky winner will spend the day accompanying the former president to various meetings. Also up for grabs is a chance to attend the season finale of American Idol and a lunch with Hillary's campaign adviser and CNN political commentator James Carville.

Carville implored Hillary fans to help out in an email this week. "I knew it was going to take an extraordinary effort to help pay off Hillary Clinton's campaign debt. But now, I think we can do it and have some fun at the same time."