June 19, 2008
It Must Be Easter…
…’Cause Here Comes Hippity-Hoppity, Flippity-Floppity Barack O’Rabbit Hoppin’ Down the Bunny Trail (Or Is It Straight Into the Memory Hole?)
Something up front: This isn’t just another “Obama says one thing and does another” post — hay-ell, I ignore most of Obama’s cock-ups these days, partly because there’s little point to caring anymore, and mostly because if I followed his every misstep as closely as I used to, I’d be doing nothing else 24 hours a day.
This, however, I cannot let go by without comment. Public campaign finance is a BIG issue to me; in fact, I believe that all campaigns, at every level of government, should be restricted to public financing only, no soft money, no corporate donations, no lobbyist money, no PACs, no exceptions. Private money is the root of all corruption — and the reason we have the abominable excuse for a government we do today.
That said, perhaps you’ll understand why this cheeses me off, maybe more than any other single thing Barack Obama has done yet.
Obamanation says it’s normal to run to the left in primaries, and move to the middle for the GE.
OK, I have no argument with that — unless, of course, they actually aim to convince me that Barack Obama ran to the left during the primaries (uh, no, he ran to the center, and often right-of-center), and is now moving toward the center to appease the masses.
Uh, nope, sorry, don’t buy that. He’s just running more to the right. To wit: Obama’s decision to forgo public campaign financing in favor of private donations — or, more accurately, his decision to forgo integrity in favor of cold, hard cash.
This is, of course, just another in a long line of Barry’s…
…and a particularly dicey decision to defend — so much so that Camp Obama-Wan announced it in a video (embedded, not surprisingly, on Obama’s “donate to meeeeeeeeeee!” page) emailed to his supporters (and to me, too; since the LGBT conference snow job call, I’m on their mailing list), in which Barry tries to explain it away as declaring his independence from a “broken system.” See, it’s the system that’s broken (bad, system! bad!); it has nothing to do with the humongous wads of cash he’ll raise this way: With public financing, he’d have about $80 million at his disposal; freed of its restraints (or “rules”, a word Obamaites love when it suits their agenda), he could raise as much as $300 million (depending on who’s doing the estimating).
So why knock Obama for making such a smart move? Because he’s doing exactly what he swore he wasn’t going to do.
The McCain camp is pouncing on this red meat — and who can blame them? On this issue alone, they are dead to rights:
JUNE 2006: Barack Obama Says “I Strongly Support Public Financing.” OBAMA: “Well, I strongly support public financing. And I know [Senator] Dick [Durbin] does too. He’s going to have some things to say about it because when we were having — as you’ll recall — the major debates around lobbying reform, one of the things that Dick, I think, properly pointed out was that you can change the rules on lobbying here in Washington, but if we’re still getting financed primarily from individual contributions, that those with the most money are still going to have the most influence.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At Constituents Breakfast, 6/29/06) …JANUARY 2007: Barack Obama Says “I’m A Big Believer In Public Financing” And “The Presidential Public Financing System Works.” KING: “Senator Clinton, by the way, has decided to reject public financing for her campaign. Are you going to do the same?” OBAMA: “Well, you know, this is something that, obviously, we are going to have to take a careful look at. I’m a big believer in public financing of campaigns. And I think that for a time, the presidential public financing system works.” (CNN’s “Larry King Live,” 1/24/07)
Did I miss something? Did something happen to change the public financing system that in January, 2007, it “worked,” yet today, it’s “broken”?
FEBRUARY 2007: Barack Obama Petitions The FEC To Clear Way For Deal To Preserve Public Financing For the General Election, Pledging To Do So If He Is The Nominee. “Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, issued an unusual challenge to his rivals on Wednesday. He proposed a voluntary agreement between the two major party nominees that would limit their fund-raising and spending for the general election. … In a Feb. 1 filing with the Federal Election Commission that was made public on Wednesday, Mr. Obama said that he, too, would seek enough private donations to remain competitive, but with a twist. He asked the commission if he could begin soliciting private donations with the understanding that he might later return the money to his contributors. If he won the Democratic nomination, he could then strike a deal with the Republican nominee to return their private donations and use only public money for the general election. For 2008, that would limit each general election campaign to about $85 million. ‘Should both major party nominees elect to receive public funding, this would preserve the public financing system, now in danger of collapse, and facilitate the conduct of campaigns freed from any dependence on private fund-raising,’ Mr. Obama’s filing said.” (David K. Kirkpatrick, “Obama Proposes Candidates Limit General Election Spending,” The New York Times, 2/8/07)McCain And Obama Agree To Preserve The Public Financing System. “Senator John McCain joined Senator Barack Obama on Thursday in promising to accept a novel fund-raising truce if each man wins his party’s presidential nomination. The promises by Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Mr. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, are an effort to resuscitate part of the ailing public financing system for presidential campaigns. … (David D. Kirkpatrick, “McCain A nd Obama In Deal On Public Financing,” The New York Times, 3/2/07)
How do you wiggle out of this one, Barry? Are you going to say that being the presumptive nominee is not the same thing as being the official nominee, so you’re under no obligation to stick to your part of the bargain — at least until the convention (and then what are you going to say)?
…FEBRUARY 2007: Barack Obama Co-Sponsors Legislation To Keep Current Public Funding System Relevant. … (Elana Schor, “Obama Co-Signs Bill To Publicly Fund Campaigns,” The Hill, 2/16/07)MARCH 2007: Obama Spokesman Bill Burton Said Barack Obama “Will Aggressively Pursue An Agreement” On Public Financing. BURTON: “If Senator Obama is the nominee, he will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.” (Jim Kuhnhenn, “Federal Regulators Rule Candidates Can Return Donations For General Election,” The Associated Press, 3/1/07)
NOVEMBER 2007: In Response To A Midwest Democracy Network Questionnaire, Barack Obama Said He Would Accept Public Funding In The General Election. Question: “If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?” Obama: “Yes. I have been a long-time advocate for public financing of campaigns combined with free television and radio time as a way to reduce the influence of moneyed special interests.” (Sen. Barack Obama, “Presidential Candidate Questionnaire,” Midwest Democracy Network, www.commoncause.org, 11/27/07) …
FEBRUARY 2008: Barack Obama Writes An Op-Ed In USA Today Stating That He Would “Aggressively Pursue” An Agreement With The Republican Nominee Guaranteeing “A Publicly Funded General Election In 2008 With Real Spending Limits.” … “As I have said, I will aggressively pursue such an agreement if I am my party’s nominee. … I propose a meaningful agreement in good faith that results in real spending limits. The candidates will have to commit to discouraging cheating by their supporters; to refusing fundraising help to outside groups; and to limiting their own parties to legal forms of involvement. … I am committed to seeking such an agreement if that commitment is matched by Senator McCain. … I will pass that test, and I hope that the Republican nominee passes his.” (Barack Obama, Op-Ed, “Opposing View: Both Sides Must Agree,” USA Today, 2/20/08)
FEBRUARY 2008: Barack Obama Says “I Will Sit Down With John McCain” To Address Public Financing. NBC’S TIM RUSSERT: “So you may opt out of public financing. You may break your word.” BARACK OBAMA: “What I — what I have said is, at the point where I’m the nominee, at the point where it’s appropriate, I will sit down with John McCain and make sure that we have a system that works for everybody.” (Democratic Presidential Debate, Cleveland, OH, 2/26/08) …
APRIL 2008: ABC News’ Jake Tapper Reports That Barack Obama Is Previewing Arguments To Opt Out Of The Public Financing System. “Despite his previous pledge to enter into the public financing system should he be the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has recently been reluctant to re-commit to entering the system. …” (Jake Tapper, “Obama Prepares Argument To Discard Public-Financing Principle,” ABC News, 4/8/08)
The Washington Post Highlights The Test Confronting Barack Obama: “When it was in Mr. Obama’s interest to present himself as the ethical savior of an imperiled campaign finance system, he was happy to do so, especially since it didn’t seem especially likely at the time that he’d be the nominee. But the real test of a candidate is whether he will stick by an announced principle even when that’s against his own interest. Now Mr. Obama could become the first nominee since Watergate to run a campaign fueled entirely by private money.” (Editorial, “A Lapsed Principle,” The Washington Post, 4/14/08) …
There’s plenty more Obama can’t easily worm out from under, in “A Timeline Of Reversal.”
Now, before you Obamababies start accusing me (as usual) of being a McCain lover, my issue, on this issue, is with Obama, not McCain. So if you want to respond to this, you’re going to look like an absolute moron if you attack me for what your candidate is doing.
And if, by actually acknowledging the sins of Jesus H. Obama, you think you’ll run the risk of a psychotic break, and are compelled to attack somebody else, you have a much bigger fish than me to fry: Russ Feingold, Mister Campaign Finance Reform, one of the two chief sponsors of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, a.k.a. the McCain-Feingold Act (and guess who the “McCain” is in “McCain-Feingold”… anyone…? class…?), and beloved saint of progressive Democrats everywhere — and to Obamaites, especially after he endorsed Obama (but I didn’t hold that against him; I’m still crazy about Russ, and wish he had run for prez)… but whose star is tarnished now that he dare say anything even remotely critical of The Anointed One. (I haven’t seen Feingold eviscerated by Obama supporters yet; of the pro-Obama sites I read, the general reaction appears to be a numb, “Huh? Feingold said what? He must have been taken out of context…”)
This is not a good decision,” Feingold said in a statement today. “While the current public financing system for the presidential primaries is broken, the system for the general election is not. The entire system must be updated.” …“Senator Obama is committed to reforming the current system, and I look forward to working on this and a wide range of other reform issues with him when he becomes President,” said Feingold. “But this decision was a mistake.”
Pretty tame criticism (he has to tone it down in the name of *cough* “party unity”), but criticism all the same.
Oh, and speaking of Obama’s co-sponsorship of the McCain-Feingold bill, David Nather (at the link above) explains how this complicates things even further for Obama:
One of the consequences of Barack Obama’s announcement this morning that he’ll opt out of the public financing system is that he’s alienated the allies who worked with him, and praised his work, on last year’s lobbying and ethics overhaul.Obama was one of two Democratic senators who took the lead on the legislation, and it was the most significant accomplishment of his short Senate career. Reid paired him up with Russ Feingold of Wisconsin — the Democrat who co-authored the 2002 campaign finance overhaul with John McCain — to take the lead in pushing the ethics legislation through the Senate. …
Another complication is the fact that Obama is a co-sponsor of a Feingold bill that would overhaul the public financing system, notably by allowing more matching funds in primaries and letting primary candidates spend more if their opponents opt out of public financing. So it would create some awkward moments for a President Obama if Feingold continues to push that bill next year, as he’s likely to do.
And, before you get on my case, Obamababies, and after you’re finished throwing Russ Feingold under your big, bad bus, you’ve got a lot of other fellow Democrats and non-partisan groups to attack first:
The reactions were similar [to Feingold’s] from the government watchdog groups that worked closely with Obama and Feingold on the ethics overhaul. Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer declared himself “very disappointed” with the decision. Public Citizen president Joan Claybrook said she was “deeply disappointed.” You get the idea.In a video distributed to his supporters, Obama justified his decision by declaring that “the public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken, and we face opponents who’ve become masters at gaming this broken system. John McCain’s campaign and the Republican National Committee are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs. And we’ve already seen that he’s not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations.”
But the watchdog groups weren’t buying it. Obama “knew the circumstances surrounding the presidential general election when he made his public pledge to use the system,” said Wertheimer. Claybrook, for her part, shared Feingold’s view that it’s the primaries where the public financing system needs work, not the general election. Obama’s campaign, she said, should have been a model of his dedication to campaign finance and ethics overhauls.
How dare these horrible, soulless, mean ol’ poopyheads refuse to blind themselves to Obama’s hypocrisy! The nerve!
<<<= for the sarcasm-impaired
So… Hey, wait… Look at this. Just as I’m about to publish this post, I get another email from Obamaville, this time from David Plouffe. You don’t suppose the Dalai Obama has been getting so much bad press over today’s colossal flip-flop that somebody decided they’d better run damage control, smart-quick, do ya? Yeah, I think so, too:
Barack announced an important decision for our campaign today.I want to add a little context to the video message you received earlier announcing that we will not participate in the public financing system for the general election.
Even though we stood to receive more than $80 million in taxpayer funding for our campaign, the system has been so gamed and exploited by our opponents that it is effectively broken.
John McCain, the Republican National Committee, and their allies in so-called 527 groups that raise and spend unlimited contributions are dedicated to manipulating this broken system to raise as much money as possible — and they’ve proven that they’re very good at it.
A top McCain adviser told MSNBC earlier this month, “now that we’re in the general election, the RNC money counts, the DNC money counts. So the truth is today, John McCain has more cash on hand and more money than Barack Obama does.”
In April alone, they raised nearly $45 million. That’s more than our campaign and the Democratic National Committee combined. And that doesn’t include the plans of 527 groups like the one called “Freedom’s Watch,” which has said it will spend as much as $250 million under Karl Rove’s direction to attack and defeat Barack Obama.
To compete, Barack has put his faith in ordinary people giving only what they can afford. That’s been the strategy of this campaign from the beginning, and more than 1,500,000 supporters like you have gotten us this far.
We have a historic opportunity to prove that a movement of ordinary people has the power to change the way political campaigns are funded. And we have a clear goal as we begin this new challenge: 50,000 people declaring their independence by making a donation before July 4th.
You can help take on John McCain and the RNC by making your first donation today.
A previous donor is standing by to match your gift and double your impact. You can even exchange a personal note with them about why you’ve chosen to support Barack.
Declare your independence from our broken system. Make a matching donation today:
https://donate.barackobama.com/match
Opting out of public matching funds was an extremely difficult decision, and frankly we are at a disadvantage when it comes to raising money. Unlike John McCain, this campaign has never accepted donations from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs.
While McCain has built his fundraising strategy around high-dollar donors giving huge checks to the RNC, you are creating a new model for publicly financed campaigns.
Thank you for your support and for taking on the masters of a broken system,
David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
Well, David, you’re a master of WORM* rhetoric, aren’t you? While this campaign may have “never accepted donations from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs,” it’s not like Obama has “never accepted donations from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs.” You ought to make that clear, ’cause that statement is a real gotcha. If I caught it (and rolled my eyes at it), you can bet the GOP will catch it (and they’re going to do a lot more with it than roll their eyes at it).
Meanwhile, Barry pulled some other infuriating crap-o-rama today, which I’ll get to later. (Hint: He’s pulling further to the right than ever, and, just when you think he couldn’t piss off gay folks any more than he already has, he does.)
*WORM: What Obama Really Meant
Filed under: Barack Obama, Democrats, Election 2008, John McCain, Republicans
