Another Day, Another Broken Promise
Don’t get me wrong – I like Obama, and I don’t intend to turn this blog into a “slam of the day”. But one day after he backed off his NAFTA rhetoric, he most definitely broke a promise by forgoing public funding of his general election campaign. John McCain immediately accused him (rightly) of rank hypocrisy, but let’s turn it over to the Washington Post editorial page:
BARACK OBAMA isn’t abandoning his pledge to take public financing for the general election campaign because it’s in his political interest. Certainly not. He isn’t about to become the first candidate since Watergate to run an election fueled entirely with private money because he will be able to raise far more that way than the mere $85 million he’d get if he stuck to his promise — and with which his Republican opponent, John McCain, will have to make do. No, Mr. Obama, or so he would have you believe, is forgoing the money because he is so committed to public financing. Really, it hurts him more than it hurts Fred Wertheimer.
Pardon the sarcasm. But given Mr. Obama’s earlier pledge to “aggressively pursue” an agreement with the Republican nominee to accept public financing, his effort to cloak his broken promise in the smug mantle of selfless dedication to the public good is a little hard to take. “It’s not an easy decision, and especially because I support a robust system of public financing of elections,” Mr. Obama said in a video message to supporters.
Mr. Obama didn’t mention his previous proposal to take public financing if the Republican nominee agreed to do the same — the one for which he received heaps of praise from campaign finance reform advocates such as Mr. Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, and others, including us. He didn’t mention, as he told the Federal Election Commission last year in seeking to preserve the option, that “Congress concluded some thirty years ago that the public funding alternative . . . would serve core purposes in the public interest: limiting the escalation of campaign spending and the associated pressures on candidates to raise, at the expense of time devoted to public dialogue, ever vaster sums of money.”
Instead, he cast his abandonment of the system as a bold good-government move. “This is our moment, and our country is depending on us,” he said. “So join me, and declare your independence from this broken system and let’s build the first general election campaign that’s truly funded by the American people.” Sure, and if the Founding Fathers were around today, they’d have bundlers, too.
The new brand of politics smells suspiciously like the old one…
Seeing as I would like to see public financing of elections, i.e.; government financing, made illegal, I’m glad that Obama is abandoning his pledge. The turnabout, and his reasons for it, are hilarious though: “So join me, and declare your independence from this broken system. . .” – what, exactly, is now broken that wasn’t when he made his pledge? And if it is broken, who broke it?
As you say Mark, same-old, same-old… he will, and should, do those things that improve his odds of winning. I don’t begrudge him that and would call him a fool if he were to act differently, but can he please be honest about it? “I support a robust system of public financing of elections,” ummm, no you don’t. Oh, and you occupy a position, as Senator, that could fix the “broken system”, but you haven’t.
So, yeah, I get it. He supports public schools too, but sends his kids to private ones. I suppose we’ll hear more on that topic later.
And on top of all that, Obama’s playing the victim here!
Obama claims he must renounce all public financing and the limits attached thereto, because John McCain “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.”
Poor Obama. He’s going to suffer so much from the attacks of those evil Republican 527’s. Wait. What’s that? They don’t exist?
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/02/the_obama_pledge.html
Only 2 noses.
Still, this is a non-issue. I still wonder what the difference is between “aggressively pursue” and “pledge” or “promise”. Surely they’re the same sport, but not in the same ballpark in my eyes. I’m sick and tired of this “broken promise” crap. “Read my lips” is a promise (and a stupid one). Do you have any reporting on what factors were considered as he pursued this option? Was there an indication that McCain would try to cheat the system? Or, of course, the more simple answer is probably that Obama knows he will win if he doesn’t do this because he will outraise McCain 3 or 4 to 1, at least. It’s going to be a stupid amount of money and he’d be a fool not to do this.
And TMS: yes, very similar to supporting public schools by sending kids to private ones. Oh, no, the horror. Very similar indeed. Can one not support public AND private schools? He pays his taxes, right?
You are so insulated, Aaron. Not to mention lacking serious bs detectors:
“The Swift Boat Veterans were unveiled at National Press Club event on May 4 that year. By late June, PFA was not only up and running but had launched ads in some key states. And a handful of well-funded Democratic third-party groups had already spent tens of millions of dollars at that point hammering Bush and the GOP.”
Well, dub, guess when Kerry sealed up the nomination…officially, March 11 (actually, on Super Tuesday, but whatever). In any event, I’m sure there were plenty of people lining up to smear Hillary had she been the nominee. Now they’re just figuring out their angle. Give them two months…
If they do not come out in full force I would be very surprised. I don’t blame Obama for fearing that scenario at all, especially with all the bs Muslim talk going on reputable news networks. Or the obligatory “Rezko” crap that somehow makes it’s way into articles about the supposed Muslim issue of the day.
dub = duH
Of course O was going to do this. Can’t blame him but it is fun to see O fans doing contortions to defend him.
Its naked politics which is fine with me but I thought O stood for a “new kind of politics”.
While I’m sure O is going to win, money advantages won’t be the reason. If you see O ads 15 times per day, do you pay attention? At acertain level, the money spent on TV causes rapidly declining returns. McCain will have plenty of money to compete.
Oh yeah, didn’t see this from that article either:
““We spent 18 months and millions of dollars making ‘Hillary The Movie,’” laments David Bossie, head of Citizens United and a longtime Clinton tormentor. “We’re incredibly proud, but the problem is the film has no relevance anymore.” Bossie is now rushing out an Obama movie for later this summer that he promises will include Wright and other controversial figures from the Democrat’s past. But while promising that they’ll also do TV spots, Bossie’s outfit faces the same challenges as other third-party groups hoping to engage in the race – a lack of money.”
Gee, hope he doesn’t break his “promise”…
No horror, just hypocrisy and dishonesty. There is nothing wrong with him sending his kids to private school – as a responsible parent that is what he should do if he thinks it best for his kids – but don’t then tell me what a great deal public school is for my kids when he clearly acknowledges, through his actions, the crap education that most public schools actually deliver.
TMS: It has virtually nothing to do with the schools themselves, it’s way more a function of the parents and kids in those schools. If people want to choose to insulate their children from the rest of the public, that is their own business. I certainly don’t blame high profile people from choosing to do so. Nor do I blame anyone really, but it is especially understandable with famous people. Private schools seem more about indoctrination than anything else.
Have you ever had to teach at a school? Of the teachers in the US, I would say the same percentage of them are complete idiots as the rest of the population. Roughly 1/3 or so…
You fail to sell me on hyporcisy in this instance. Sending ones kids to private school doesn’t send a message about anything. But you can read into it whatever you want.
Barack Obama flips and flops more than John Kerry. It is a little unseemly bt was probably part of the game plan from the beginning. And, though it has been in the news a little, it is not drawing any real big attention or uproar.
Oh well. Looks like Move ON will be able to have some influence.