President Obama’s re-election campaign made an about-face late Monday in its opposition to super PACs, encouraging donors to send their unlimited contributions to one such group founded by a former administration spokesman.
Obama campaign manager Jim Messina emailed supporters to formally endorse contributions to Priorities USA, the Democratic super PAC founded by Bill Burton, a former White House deputy press secretary.
“With so much at stake, we can’t allow for two sets of rules in this election whereby the Republican nominee is the beneficiary of unlimited spending and Democrats unilaterally disarm,” Messina wrote on the campaign’s blog. “Therefore, the campaign has decided to do what we can, consistent with the law, to support Priorities USA in its effort to counter the weight of the GOP Super PAC.”
The claim of “unilateral disarmament” rings hollow when Obama’s fundraising is taken into account: While Mitt Romney has raised tens of millions in donations, he has had to spend heavily to fend off challengers while the president’s campaign has raised more money, and faces no primary challenger. Campaigns are barred by law from coordinating with super PACs, which doesn’t square very well with the Obama campaign’s obvious promotion of its super PAC.
In 2010, President Obama called super PACs a “threat to democracy.” Similar to the moral argument he used to promote US intervention in Libya — that we couldn’t wait until we saw images of the dead to act, images we are now seeing coming out of Syria yet he is not acting — that moral argument has been revealed as nothing more than an expedient. “Just words,” a younger Obama might say.
“i really dont want to do this but those evil republicans and their millions of $ on negative ads can really hurt my chances at re-election (even though i have access to hundreds of billions of $ to smear, slander, misinform, raze straw men, bribe, etc; besides, why would I want to “get high on my own supply”/dive into my stash when i can get a bunch of others to fund my re-election campaign)”
– Baby is our President “Stuff”.
File under “Duh…”. The administration has the same position on “civility in discourse”.
It wasn’t Obama’s fault – just like it wasn’t his fault back in 2008 when he broke his promise and opted out of public financing so he could outspend McCain.
It is always a treat to read the comments here. The commenters ability to spit on every aspect of the black man in the White House is amazing to me. Romney’s many flip-flops don’t bring any mention. Obama changing his mind from 4 years ago and the Tea Baggers all explode.
Gingrich’s Vegas Godfather (Adelmann) gives out checks at $10 million each, yet not a peep from the baggers here. Obama tries to level the playing field (legally, mind you) and you all freak out.
I think it would just be best for you to admit your allegiance to the GOP cult. That is the only legitimate reason for your panic attacks. Or maybe it is pure racism toward POTUS. Either reason shows just how far you have fallen.
Gingrich has also never decried super-PACs as evil.
What Obama is displaying is called “hypocrisy,” also known as “saying one thing and doing another.” And that definition is the same for white and black hypocrites.
The race card? Really?
The “Democrats unilaterally disarm”? The Left limits corporations, business interests, everyone with an ability to exercise free speech through contributions, but allows unions to shovel unlimited money into the DNC & Democrat campaigns. That’s money extorted from workers in forced-union states who have no choice but to join a union to have a job. That’s also money from the vast majority of unions that are government workers, feeding at the trough of money that they vote to themselves.