So I'm sure by now we've all heard of the flip flop that wasn't Obama changing his views on public financing.
And we all know why he did it:
"The public financing of presidential elections, as it exists today, is broken, and we face opponents who have become masters at gaming this broken system," Obama said, adding that [this wasn't] an "easy decision" for him.
jump. . .
Obama KNEW the RNC and McCain would not stick to only using 85 million dollars. He KNEW the RNC 527s (which already have an ad up) are going to be out there smearing him. Obama, for his part told his supporters to stop funding the 527s:
"From the beginning of this race Obama has told supporters that if they want to help his effort, they should do so through his campaign," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton, who confirmed that Pritzker has told donors not to give to the groups. "And he means exactly what he says."
Most presidential candidates say they don't encourage the outside groups, and donors are accustomed to taking those words with a grain of salt. The candidates' words are typically seen as mere legal defenses against allegations that the campaigns are illicitly coordinating with outside groups.
The donors have been considering entreaties from Progressive Media USA, run by conservative-journalist turned liberal media critic David Brock; from former Clinton aide John Podesta’s Fund for America; and from America Votes, a group backed by billionaire George Soros that focuses on voter mobilization, among other efforts.
But in recent days, major donors have begun to conclude that Obama is serious in trying to cut off funds to the outside groups.
"It’s given donors pause," said one prominent Democratic donor of Pritzker’s words.
Well Newsweek, one of the few publications I think I can trust, has an article out now titled, How McCain Is Skirting His Own Spending Caps. Mind you, Newsweek was also the publication that unveiled McCain's tax defaulting.
In this new article, they basically say "Barack Obama was right, McCain is planning to cheat the system."
[E]ven though McCain has agreed to an $84.1 spending limit by accepting public funds--a decision he likes to portray as a principled stand against the corrupting influence of money on politics--at least double that sum will be dropped on his behalf before Election Day thanks to loopholes in the law that allow outside groups to effectively skirt such limits with largely unregulated "soft money" contributions.
Since I live in Ohio, I'll be seeing everyone's ads so much I'll be sick of both candidates by November. Currently, there is one up by the RNC attacking Obama's stance on energy.
Nevermind the fact that the ad is false and misleading, this ad is not paid for by McCain. There's another ad going up too by a group of "independent" vets who allegedly aren't promoting any particular candidate.
[B]ecause McCain "had nothing do with the [new] ads," and the RNC merely funded the spots--it apparently didn't consult on content--they're subject to neither the candidate's $84.1 million spending limit nor the $20 million cap on what the party can spend in coordination with the campaign. In other words, the RNC can invest unlimited sums of money in commercials like this. Given that GOP donors can each contribute $28,500 to the national party--or about $25,000 more than Dems can give directly to Obama--expect to see plenty more On Message-style spots before Election Day. After all, it's not like they're going to sound any different from the ads McCain would air if he could afford to
Ah, technicalities. . .
And Obama's grassroots advantage? Well GOP governors seem to think they can overtake that, and as such:
Currently, Team McCain is soliciting checks of up to $70,100 from each donor--$28,500 for the RNC, $40,000 for a quartet of state parties and $2,300 for the candidate himself. But if the Governors' Association actually works on a local level to boost McCain's bid,* even that ceiling on individual contributions--which is already high enough to ensure that the senator's publicly-financed campaign will raise about half of its money from private sources--would be shattered.
And then there are the infamous 527s:
The National Rifle Association plans to spend about $40 million on this year’s presidential campaign, with $15 million of that devoted to portraying Obama as a threat to voters' Second Amendment rights. And just this morning the Christian Defense Coalition launched a new campaign called "Barack Obama: The Abortion President" designed to blunt Obama's attempts to make inroads with evangelicals. All of which boost McCain--without depleting his war chest.
All of these organizations are raising money to smear Obama all while McCain continues to game the system while portraying himself as some sort of "straight talker"
Newsweek finally just lays it out, McCain is full of shit. He's talking out of BOTH sides of his mouth.
We need to make sure that Senator Obama has the resources to fight back against all of this. Please donate, or buy something from the store (which means you are donating AND you get some nice Obama gear). If you are going to buy Obama shirts, please buy them directly from the campaign so he gets 100% of the profit, or even if you choose to purchase from a bootlegger (that's what they are) please donate the same amount to the campaign.
I'm willing to bet no one in the corporate media will be advertising the fact that Obama was right to not take public financing. While I'm sure there will still be some Democratic 527s out there, there won't be nearly as many since Obama has asked his supporters to donate directly to HIS campaign rather than independent groups.
He's taking a big gamble on us, and we came through in the primaries, we can come through again for the general. And remember, there's also a contest to win an opportunity to be flown to Denver for the convention. All you need to do is donate $5 or more. I suppose if you do that more than once you will up your chances to win. . .
UPDATE
Obama had a great line at the town hall today: "John McCain would amount to a fiscal Groundhog Day in Washington, remember that movie Groundhog Day? You'd just keep waking up and the same thing is happening day after day after day" ~lol~ (not sure that's an EXACT quote, but that was great!) He was on fire and CLEARLY enjoying himself.
He also was kicking ass on education questions. I said last week that he needs to make Education his signature issue, and listening to him in this town hall only reinforces that belief. He loves talking about education, it's obvious, and he knows what he's talking about. It helps that his sister is a teacher. and LMAO@ "Young men you are NOT that good of a basketball player, you probably won't be playing in the NBA. You are NOT that good of a rapper. Maybe you ARE the next Lil' Wayne, but probably NOT, so you need to stay in school"