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Friday, June 20, 2008

Obama and public financing

Whether you read and listen to right or left wing pundits right now, most are in agreement. Obama broke his word to take public financing in the fall. Public financing, which has been used for presidential campaigns since 1976 would have this fall limited him to $84 million. McCain quickly jumped on it saying he was going to take the money and attacked Obama for flipflopping.

Is this a sign that McCain doesn't remember his own changes on policies-- some that matter a lot more than this? Did McCain wait to announce his decision to slam Obama? Despite his saying he hadn't decided earlier, McCain probably had no choice on it given he had financed his primary campaign with the guarantee that, if he won the nomination, he would use taxpayer funding for his fall campaign.

Why would Obama opt out of free (if you don't count that it's taxpayer money) campaign funds?

Let's start with the loopholes in the public financing laws (some of which McCain put there). For instance he freely uses his wife's corporate jet-- still-- and doesn't reimburse her for the amount it actually costs... when he reimburses her at all. This is a benefit to all rich men if the money that they pay for travel, which is a lot, doesn't count. His travel would not come out of that taxpayer funded $84 million. Obama's would.

Then there is the question of the 527s. McCain has already made it clear he can't stop them from what they are already doing. Slander Obama and that's nothing to him (unless he can use it himself in a sly way in his next speech). 527s (for either side) are unlimited in what they can put out and have no accountability under election laws. They also would not count under that $84 million taxpayer funded campaign. In 2004, we saw how effective these kinds of ads can be.

Although McCain hasn't been raising as much money as Obama on a personal level, the Republican party is way ahead of the Democratic party. Their ads also will not be counted in allowed campaign costs. They can run unlimited ads in ways that benefit McCain while putting down Obama.

McCain has been running his presidential campaign all spring, since he secured his party's nomination, while Obama was still working to earn his nomination which gave McCain a big head start. To make it even sweeter for McCain he's using Hillary's talking points now against Obama.

One could argue that in a time where the government is in debt and borrowing more every year, that $168 million could be better used other ways than in campaigning since both candidates can raise more if they want, but that's not really why I believe Obama made the right decision.

Obama has already had all kinds of garbage being thrown against him. Oh yes, the McCain camp is innocent in doing it. They don't have to be involved. McCain says he can't control it even when it goes too far or spreads lies. Maybe that is so. It doesn't particularly hurt his cause to let it happen though while he keeps his hands clean. How many people today fear voting for Obama because they think he's a Muslim terrorist or his wife is bitter and hates America?

Obama has asked those who donate to him to not give to other groups, not wanting to see his own 527s sprout up. I don't think those kind of ads are good, like by that group that has the emotional young mother with her baby on her lap and telling McCain (regarding his hundred years in Iraq statement), that he can't have her son someday. I don't respect McCain's viewpoint on the war (or anything else) but that ad really is also about scare tactics.

What Obama would like to do, and it's not easy, is keep his organization under his control-- something novel I know but encouraging for how he might run his administration someday. If money goes to 527s on his side, it will have garbage piling up on both sides, changing the tone of the whole campaign to a point where nothing that matters even gets discussed.

If Americans don't like Obama's decision on campaign financing, they don't have to donate to him. He is taking a risk that they might listen to the many talking heads who immediately jumped onto this by accusing Obama of losing his honor over it.

To me it was something he should not have promised in the beginning, but sometimes we learn as we go. I think he hoped the campaign would be different than it has already been. Personally I like the idea that he can look at something and do a reassessment for what is best even if it's not what is popular.

Maybe he hoped there wouldn't be 527s this time. Call it naive. Maybe he thought McCain really could or would stop them. Whatever his original reason, the initial indication he would take public financing was his mistake, not his reassessment that it would cost him the race if he limited himself that way.

All of the pundits and likely the talk radio show hosts were repeating what Fox has said which is that Obama signed a promise to take federal funds for his fall campaign. That's not quite how it was. It was a questionnaire that he checked the box saying yes that he would take it if the Republican did, but he wrote quite a bit explaining his reasoning about how he felt campaigns should be run. You don't hear about those words.

Personally, I think if the 527s were not already operating, if McCain had had control over their content, this might have gone the other way; but as it is, Obama needs to have the money to react quickly to whatever comes against him. He's not the soft, weak man that the Republicans have been trying to sell. Next we'll hear he's too tough...

Officially today is the last day of spring and first day of summer-- Summer Solstice. In honor of that and because when I write about something difficult, I like to add something pretty, I decided to use a few wildflower photos from recent hikes in the Coast Range and Willamette Valley.

It's a hard time right now with scary weather talk, difficult decisions to be made in government, economic difficulties, major questions about what is really going on in many areas, but life isn't just about that. There is beauty. There are good things out there. As the saying goes, stop and smell the roses-- especially the wild ones.

12 comments:

Diane Widler Wenzel said...

I was bothered by McCain's accusation that Obama promised. What kind of promise was it? His word, or an opinion of what he might do as in the questionaire!

robin andrea said...

In a perfect world Obama and McCain could run clean campaigns on public funding, and there would be no 527s to keep track of. But it ain't a perfect world; Michelle Obama doesn't have a private jet or a beer fortune; and Democrats don't have the kind of money that oil-rich Republicans have. Obama made the right decision for the times as we know it, not as we wish it would be.

Happy Summer Solstice to you, Rain.

Ingineer66 said...

I am laughing my ass off right now. I didn't know that only Republicans were allowed in the oil business.
And Obama has no relationship with George Soros or Tony Rezco or Oprah or any other rich Democrat that could offer him a private jet or pay for 527 attack ads.

Rain Trueax said...

Ingineer, do you ever read anything I say or just come here to argue points you made your mind up about ahead of time? I didn't say he didn't have rich friends. What I said is that the law allows a spouse to let you use their plane but not a friend. It wouldn't matter how many buddies Obama had that have private planes. The law written by McCain wouldn't let him use it as it would a family member!

And I don't like 527s by anybody but if you like them, than laugh all you want. You might be surprised how little of your government you have any say over.

Yes, anybody could fund a 527 (if they can get the right wing owned networks to put the ads onto their stations) but oprah can't give a dime more to Obama's campaign than I can. She can have a party of her friends, as I can and they might all be likely to donate their maximum amount, but so can I with people who can't donate that much because they have less. There is a personal limit on what anybody can donate. So much is allowed for primaries and so much for main elections.

You are convinced by right wingers that you want things that don't benefit the country or you. You wanted that tax cut so much that gave you a few dollars and someone wealthy many thousands and put us as a nation deeper into debt for your grandchildren to pay off maybe if they are lucky. I never understand the logic of so-called conservatives. Maybe that should be self-named as conservatives today aren't remotely conservative. They are just concerned about getting theirs.

As for oil companies, they'd give to anybody who helped them out. You think that'd be democrats? Amazing

Frankly I am not thrilled with either party. The recent caving in by the dems on the spying bill is proof that they are not much different in the end; but what difference there is favors the dems for anybody who works for a living, cares about the constitution and the freedoms that supposedly our country stood for and I do put that past tense.

I hope you saw what Dan Abrams dug up with McCain saying that he never felt pride in his country until after he was a POW and unable to be here. So all of the right wingers who have been coming down on Michelle, including Mrs. McCain, all of them will now condemn McCain, right? lol

DivaJood said...

Rain, we've been having a heated discussion about this at my place. Actually, Obama opted out of public financing because he wants to shine a light on a system that is badly broken. In addition, the Republicans are quite adept at getting around the system, and manipulating it to their advantage.

I am quite supsicious of McCain's pretense of being above board, especially given his being wedded to his economic advisor, Phil Gramm. McCain's attacks on Obama are rather disingenous, in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

You can absolutely BET that if McCain had raised as much money as Obama, HE would have the done same damn thing!
Besides which...if anyone saw the interview with Tim Russert and Obama when Obama was asked about this, he had said he was going to wait until he was nominated before deciding for sure.
Get your seat belts on for what's ahead from the Republican side in this campaign. A rain coat and hip boots wouldn't hurt either!
Terri
http://www.islandwriter.net

Ingineer66 said...

I was commenting on Robin's comment about republican oil money. And since Democrats have been in control of Congress for 50 of the last 60 years and in control of the Southern US for most of the last 130 years I would bet that Democrat politicians have received plenty of oil money since the only place we seem to want to refine oil in the US is in Louisiana and Texas. And don't forget Lady Bird Johnson was one of the biggest owners of Haliburton and KBR. Republicans do not have a monopoly on being rich or being in the oil business.

Anonymous said...

McCain and Obama are grown men and they are both politicians. By now they know that politics is a dirty business. Is anyone amazed by such knowledge? And remember this fact-they both want to be President. That in and of itself will make some people resort to shady tactics in election campaigns. Wake up people-there are no angels running here !

Rain Trueax said...

Most of us don't want an oil refinery or for that matter a nuclear power plant next door; so it's logical their locations would be limited, not to mention refineries probably benefit from being close to seaports and nuclear plants need water for cooling.

The price of oil is most probably where it is due to speculation and I am not sure what you can do about hedge funds and these kind of traders who make money by forcing up prices. The idea that offshore drilling will help it or that you can stop taxes that build highways as a solution (well that one might help but very few of us would be pleased by it) is pandering and right now it's coming from the right.

Republicans have had about 4 years of absolute power with a Congress and presidency controlled by the right wing. We can see how effective that has been. If Obama doesn't use his power wisely when he gets in (and time will tell on that), he will have two years of a Democratic controlled congress which was more than Bush should have ever had with his abuse of the system on every level.

I hope Democrats will vote against Obama if he presents plans that don't make sense, that get us deeper in debt, that put us into wars that have no reason. Republicans seem to like their representatives to vote in lock-step with the president. Democrats, at least like me, do not.

I vote for people to be first and foremost loyal and doing things for the benefit of the people in my country and secondly for the benefit of the world, not ever for their party.

Listening to the Republicans whine over McClellan's testimony and say things like how could he let down his friend, I would vote someone like that out the first chance I got-- whether it's loyalty to my party or not. They are there for the country, not for their party but Republicans forgot that these last years and maybe Democrats will next. We shall see. They better not.

Rain Trueax said...

and good links, Diva. I liked your blog.

joared said...

You made some good points. We would all be naive if we didn't recognize those groups who are committed to the dark side of politics are bound to emerge in this election. If only everyone would just ignore them and persist in discussing the important issues about which we're all concerned, maybe their messages would die a quick well-deserved death. The more time and space spent on these side issues, the less focus there is on what really matters it seems to me.

Guess there are just too many media professionals and laypeople who get distracted (which is the goal) from the real issues. It's attractive to too many, I guess, much like this celebrity gossip obsession that has consumed our society for some years now.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I agree, Rain....My feelings are that Obama is coming from a very different plave about "How To Run A Campaign" that has an integrity we rarely if ever, see.
He needs to be able to call on his supporters for financial help because HE doesn't have a very rich wife or relative that can help out here and there, in a BIG Way....!
I Love the juxtaposition of the flower pictures and the difficult subject....It sure eases it for me!