The lure of record-shattering private donations has caused Barack Obama to make one of the first flip flops of the 2008 general election.
The Illinois Senator had originally agreed to accept taxpayer funds from the public financing system, along with spending limits, if the GOP nominee made the same choice. John McCain has indicated he will go with along with public funding. Obama reversed course and can now raise an unlimited amount of money with no spending limits.
While the Republicans will surely make as much hay as possible about this reversal, I don’t believe the issue will resonate with voters. Campaign finance may be a large issue in the halls of Congress, but it’s not exactly dinner table conversation in homes across America.
Obama has been a fundraising machine. The large sums of money he will continue to raise in the general election will provide his party with such an enormous financial advantage over the Republicans that any criticism of his switch will be drowned out by a plethora of TV ads.
What troubles me is Obama’s insistence that he thought long and hard about this decision, saying that he would rely only on private donations because "the public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken. " It seems quite disingenuous. This was a no-brainer. The opportunity to bury your opponent with a bulging campaign war chest is the clear motive. It may strike some as the ultimate in hypocrisy, but it’s just politics as usual.
Tom DiBacco
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I spent nearly two decades as a journalist with ABC News and CNN in Washington, DC. I was a member of the White House Press Corps, traveling extensively with Presidents’ George Herbert Walker Bush and William Clinton aboard Air Force One. I accompanied Mr. Clinton on his inaugural trip aboard the presidential aircraft in 1993. Moved to Minneapolis in 2006. Currently a PR Exec in the Twin Cities.
Member Since: 9/17/2007
