So that’s what it means to be the “change” candidate!
Barack Obama will become the first Presidential candidate since Watergate to dump public financing.
OK, so the entire federal campaign finance system is a rotten mess.
A question for the public is: will this be the first of many broken Obama promises? [He also allegedly reversed himself on NAFTA yesterday]. Will this be seen just as another cynical move by a politician, or will this decision go to the heart of his post-partisan integrity?
Yesterday Ben Smith in Politico wrote that the Obama campaign is like Jack Kennedy’s campaign [and I think like Bobby's too]: “They have the most exciting candidate since JFK and like that operation, they have their share of talented, ambitious and at times ruthless people. Barack gets to stay above the fray, while his campaign does whatever it takes to win.”
Interestingly, Barack has decided to have it both ways — criticizing the law while really benefiting from it. [Is this like voting for a bill before opposing it?]
While “O” denounces the public law, including a key provision allowing third party groups, he loves the benefit he gets from it.
In 2004 and 2006 financiers such as George Soros and insurance magnate Peter Lewis were major independent expenditure underwriters to the liberal groups [called 527 groups]: America Coming Together, the Media Fund and the September Fund. Combined with Moveon.org and other similar groups, in 2006 they outspent Republican groups 3 to 1.
OK, and to date, pro-Obama independent groups have spent $15.3 million while pro-McCain groups have spent only $1.1 million. So it’s now a 15-1 ratio. The imbalance will be larger since the Obama guys are just gearing up and McCain has ordered conservative groups to stand down.
Jonathan Martin, in this morning’s post also in the Politico also says there are no conservative third party 527 groups anywhere on the horizion.
“The truth is that, less than five months before Election Day, there are no serious anti-Obama 527s in existence nor are there any immediate plans to create such a group.
Conversations with more than a dozen Republican strategists find near unanimity in the belief that, at some point, there will be a real third-party effort aimed at Obama.
But not one knows who will run it, who will pay for it, what shape it will eventually take or when such a group may form.”
The Obama camp is smiling, believing it can live above the fray while they live below it.
Maybe they’re right. We’ll see…
