I laughed at this version. It's rare that reporters biased against Obama are so blatant about their bias, but it got his version linked on Drudge. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080619...y&printer=1;_ylt=Auiqq8Jb1FRC2yQDcTAiK9dh24cA
Author Of McCain-Feingold: Obama Smart To Opt Out Of Public Funds One of the principal authors of the most significant campaign finance legislation since Watergate said he was neither "outraged" nor "surprised" with Barack Obama's decision to forgo public funding in the general election. Norm Ornstein, a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and substantial contributor to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act -- also known as the "McCain-Feingold" campaign finance legislation -- said on Thursday that Obama's move was "pragmatically the right decision to make," and that, if the Senator had not chosen that path, "I would have sued him for political malpractice." "What I told a bunch of people a few weeks ago," said Ornstein, "is that while it would be nice if he decided he felt honor bound to stay within the system and take the money, if he did so I might join a group of people who sued him for political malpractice. When you have the ability to raise the kind of money that he could raise and do it without selling your soul to spend all the time between now and the election on fundraisers, your goal is to win an election and not turn your back on the people voting. There will be outraged editorials and McCain will be justifiably pissed. But it was pragmatically the right decision for him to make." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/19/author-of-mccain-feingold_n_108132.html
Despite all the rationalizations I have been reading, Obama's decision to break his word and return to the politics of old is disturbing to me. I understand the temptation of big money and the ability to buy the election much like the Republican Party has done in recent years. However, what is one's word worth? Obama and McCain pledged to use only public money to fund their campaigns -- an agreement that looked good early before Obama discovered he was such a prolific fund raiser. McCain is holding to that pledge despite access to a huge reservoir of cash readily available from Republican fat cat contributors. The only saving grace for Obama IMO is that most of the money has come from small contributors from the average populace. All politicians flip-flop, some worse than others. However, a man who breaks his word -- even though it is to buy the Presidency in the name of good -- is suspect forever. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
i have to admit, i'm a little disappointed, but you knew it was coming. obama just didn't realize how much money he could raise. even he didn't have a sense of how many apathetic people there are to politics who are fueling his machine. its incredible.
I'm glad he passed it up, but would rather that he admit that it's a horrible infringement on the right to redress, only serves to protect incumbents at the expense of the taxpayer, and that he'd work to get rid of it as President.
No I think Bush was the first guy to reject matching funds and it was a pretty big deal in 2000 when he did it (Gore accepted matching funds that year and many consider that to be a mistake because he could have easily raised more money than the federal cap) In 2004 Both candidates rejected matching funds and I'm surprised McCain accepted it for some reason. Guess the McCain campaign really doesn't expect to raise much money. I figured in this age of politics no one would ever accept federal financing again.
I think I'll celebrate and drop another check in the mail! geeimsobored I believe Kerry did accept public funding in 04'
Bush/Kerry/Bush actually all rejected matching funds just for the Primaries - they all accepted it for the general. So Obama is the first to reject it for the general. Obama is definitely skirting some ethical lines depending on what was actually promised and all that - that's sort of a he-said, she-said thing. McCain, on the other hand, is skirting legal lines by putting up collateral to get matching primary funds and then rejecting them despite the FEC saying he couldn't. I have no idea why we don't have a full slate of FEC commissioners, but if they manage to approve some, McCain could have some legal issues in the fall. The problem for Obama is that it's much easier to explain what he did than it is to explain what McCain did. But both seem to be involved in campaign finance shenanigans.
Brooks is right. For some, he still is the candidate many are looking for. Idealistic though keenly pragmatic. But everytime he uses his lawyerly skills in semantics, I cringe and wonder what he really believes in. We're really believing he'll do what he says he'll do on his word and his appearance of authenticity. That trust is razor thin.
I do declare, I love it when Repubs get the vapors due to their delicate sensibilities being offended.
