McCain's Campaign Funding Hypocrisy: Why Are the Media Looking the Other Way?

Last month, I wrote about the mainstream media's ongoing membership in the John McCain Protection Society and its offshoot, the Swift Boat Media for McCain, and of how their highly motivated efforts are affecting the presidential race.

The MSM's overheated response to Barack Obama's decision to opt out of the public campaign finance system was a textbook example.

"Obama chose winning over his word" and "tarnished his carefully honed image as a different kind of politician," said the AP's Liz Sidoti.

"Your typical politician," said Lou Dobbs.

"No wonder John McCain smelled a flip-flop," said Dean Reynolds on the CBS Evening News.

"People in this country like to believe that people play on a level playing field and that a campaign will be about ideas and personality; if you start with that much more money, is it basically fair?" asked Charlie Gibson.

Isn't it interesting how, after largely ignoring the issue for the last 30 years, during which the GOP consistently outfundraised and outspent Democrats in election after election, the media are suddenly all atwitter about whether the campaign finance system is "basically fair"? How dare Obama inspire 1.5 million donors, giving an average of $197 apiece, to help him raise more money than McCain?

"This is a big deal," said McCain of Obama's decision. "It's a big deal. He has completely reversed himself and gone back not on his word to me, but the commitment that he made to the American people. That's disturbing."

What's actually disturbing is the Swift Boat Media's complete indifference to McCain's bald-faced hypocrisy on the same issue. Amidst all the attacks on Obama's "flip-flop," how much have you read in the MSM about the fact that McCain has "completely reversed himself" on public financing -- and is currently breaking the law on a daily basis, making a mockery out of a campaign finance system he helped create?

In the fall of 2007, McCain opted into the public financing system for the GOP primaries, which meant he'd later receive just over $5 million in public funds in exchange for agreeing to a fundraising limit of around $54 million for the entire primary process, which ends when he accepts the nomination at the Republican National Convention in September.

By late November, his campaign was practically broke, so McCain took out a pair of $1 million loans, using the public funds he would receive as collateral.

Cut to Super Tuesday, when McCain had the Republican nomination all but wrapped up. Suddenly, he didn't want to be bound by that $54 million limit, so his campaign did a 180 and opted back out of the public financing system.

But as David Mason, the Republican-appointed chair of the FEC, has pointed out, you can't just unilaterally opt out -- especially after securing a loan based on having opted in. The response of the McCain campaign is quite simply to ignore Mason. And because the FEC currently lacks a quorum (thanks to stalling tactics by that human roadblock to reform, Mitch McConnell) that's where things stand, pending a ruling on a lawsuit filed by the DNC.

Yet few in the Swift Boat Media saw fit to point out this glaring contradiction in McCain's cries about broken commitments made to the American people. Indeed, as Media Matters points out, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the CBS Evening News, NBC's Nightly News, Fox News' Special Report, and CNN all dutifully reported McCain's "Big deal" claim without mentioning McCain's campaign finance chicanery.

One notable exception was CNN's John Roberts. When McCain surrogate Nancy Pfotenhauer tried to contrast Obama opting out of public financing and McCain's steadfast resolve in the face of torture at the Hanoi Hilton, Roberts, as noted by our Jason Linkins, firmly raised the question of whether McCain cheated the campaign financing system.

But that kind of pushback was rare, even as McCain adviser Sen. Lindsey Graham painted Obama's decision as a dark day for America: "This is just really sad for the country. For somebody with this much ability, this much talent, to fall this far, this soon... This guy wants to win, he'll do anything to win."

Looking back on the journey McCain has taken, from tireless champion of campaign finance reform to presidential nominee abusing every campaign finance loophole possible, Graham's words are actually a fitting epitaph for the loss of the Old John McCain of 2000. It is "just really sad for the country" that the man who once vowed "to have blood all over the floor of the Senate until we accede to the demands of the people" for meaningful reform has been replace by the John McCain of 2008.

Some advocates of public financing have found Obama's decision a disappointment. Others side with Francis Wilkinson who, writing in the New York Times, deemed it "probably the most obvious and inevitable decision he'll make all year -- justified both politically and ethically."

I'm torn. As a longtime supporter of public financing of campaigns, I'd certainly like to see a system where money no longer dominates the political process. But given the imperfections of the current system, including the powerful role independent 527s will likely play in the '08 race, Obama's decision is the clearly right one.

What's more, because of the revolutionary way his campaign has used the Internet, Obama, unlike candidates of the past, no longer needs to spend 2/3 of his time in fundraising dinners with fat cat donors. And wasn't that the goal of campaign finance reform in the first place?

So while Obama's decision is a subject open to debate, the mainstream media should not be allowed to get away with their continued refusal to accurately report on the fall of John McCain.

This is the very big deal.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[shades3]

THANK YOU for reminding us just what the sequence of events were that prompted McCain to FLIP-FLOP when it comes to public financing. Considering the money he and his wife have access to, how dare he suggest that Obama being able to generate unprecedented funds, mostly in small amounts, from his supporters is "unfair."
What he means is how dare this upstart newbie out-fundraise me??
The Republicans have always been able to get access to more money, both from their own pockets, and from the super-rich.
How does it feel, Mr. McCain, to be beaten at your own game by someone who has introduced new rules??
Hard to feel pity for you, or outrage against Obama.
You, Mr McCain, gambled...­..........­..........­..........­......and lost.

[Intelligentia]

There are as many criminals in the media as there are in politics. The days of real journalism has been replaced by incompetent and illiterate microphone-waving, tape-recorder waiving fools. Do not expect the media to engage in critical thinking or rational reasoning, because we have a bunch idiots posing as journalists and pundits, except the obvious few who are not only smart but are true juornalists like Chriatiana Amanpour, Susan Malveaux (sp), Soledad (sp?) O'brien )sp.?) and Roland Martin. This lack of intellectual accuity in news reporting is the reason every statement made by Obama is misconstrued and over-analysis for tabloid dissemination. I can't wait for the news network proposed by J.C. Watts to take off. Hopefully, we will finally see news reporting in America.

[okayigive]

Good article and I hope this issue stay front and center on this sites and others like this one, eventually the MSM will get the message, we all know they are slow and only do their job after the fact. IMO, this is a case of Sen. O-bama making a choice between government sponsored public financing over people sponsored public financing. I can't see why the reps. are complaining when they favor less government in the people's affairs?

Well, the MSM will continue to ignore this information because they support criminal acts in our government, as already shown with their silence on GWB. What's amazing is the silence of knowingly not pointing out the difference between the agreement between Sen. O-bama and Sen. Mcc and the one with Sen. Mcc and FEC. Sen. Mcc's actions have gone beyond not living up to his word, his actions circumvent a bill that he helped write and carries his name. (M-ccain-F-eingold Campaign Finance Reform). His actions also may be judged by the FEC as illegal and be subject to a fine and imprisonment.

[crease]

The re-pukes are on the ropes and are going to cry foul at every turn of the page of the Obama play book.Obama has a grassroots campaign that the re-pukes can`t compete with. Old man Johnny is as corrupt as every other repuke and has broken several F.E.C rules and is only getting away with it because the F.E.C. is in such a mess and is run by re-pukes.To bad for the bad guys and hooray for Obama and his grassroots internet campaign. See you in the dust come November Johnny.....

[AtlantaBill]

Who controls the MSM ?: Robert Iger - Disney/ABC; Jeffrey Immelt of GE/NBC; Sumner Redstone - CBS; and Rupert Murdoch - Fox News. It's very simple when we understand that these 4 corporate icons controls what we hear and see on these networks.

[mergina]

Hypocrisy is the standard the Republican party bears, along with fear, greed and a lack of value for human life. In McCains case, just add to that the fact that he is obviously mentally imbalanced.

[letsgetsmart]

This is a forest for the trees situation. George and McCain aren't really top quality party candidates. They are the ones who have strings that can be pulled revealing their weak character to us and willingness to take orders from the string pullers. Why wouldn't the media, another tool of the string pullers, beat up on the front man? Do people really have to have this explained? The majority of republicans these days are the easy lead type with minimal character, thus all of the revealed scandals. They put one in place here and another there until they manage to have enough to pass the laws and hand down the rulings that the string pullers want. This is the reason that I and many others did not want immunity for the media. We have to crack this nut some where to start the total collapse. In my life time I have seen the purchase and take over of the media and the government, the worst nightmare of the founding fathers. Think about this and go back and look at the headlines like the one about McCain is ready to kiss the ring of the string pullers which are not the radical religious types but the ones using them. The radical religious types are just more of the same minimal character greedy easily lead types.

[sweetme]

I completely agree and this is VERY frustrating.

[hootie1fan]

Can't anyone in the media make not of all this? Well except fro Jon Stewart.

[RumiSouth]

McCain was FOR campaign finance reform before he was against it before he was for it again.

[wawilu]

Having exposed McCain's hypocrisy about campaign financing Arianna, now how about doing more about his hypocrisy concerning special interests. He once said he "never took a dime from special interests." How pitiful! There's the Keating affair that most know about. Please look at McCain's complicity in the relocation of the Arizona Navajo Indians from their land and granting mining rights on it to Peabody Mining who are big contributors to his reelection campaigns. As well, his involvment with Paxson Communications, with free transportations on their aircraft and their political contributions to him. And now the Boeing/Northrup scandal in which McCain is involved. I'm from Arizona and know a lot about McCain. I normally don't like to speak ill of anyone however, I'm sorry to say, he is not fit to be our President.

[zigzag1]

No one mentions McCains dubious relationship with developer Donald Diamond here in AZ helping this big donor get very favorable federal land swaps. McCain is a schemer and hasn't changed since the Keating scandal days, he just hides it better.

[ReElectNoOne]

Campaign Finance is a big issue because money is a big issue. Because MSM is typically biased and Talk Radio is ALWAYS biased, typically to the right.

A candidate must be in a position to spend a lot of money to get a message out past all of the "free" bad press published by the media. Corporate media won't let the candidates just promote their platforms, they have to interject an opinion, left or right, forcing more spending to counter the opinions.

This could backfire against the republicans this time around. Their right-wing hate-spewing talking heads, print, TV and radio, will require a lot of spending on Obama's part.

He can bring in the dollars where McCain will limit himself by accepting public financing. The talking heads will, in directly perhaps, help Obama's supporters decide to pony up still more money for the campaign to help drown out the stupid chatter, helping Obama go over the top.

A campaign is about who can out spend who...Obama will win.

[Reine]

Talk radio is bias to the right but most of the media is bias to the left so quit complaining. The far right talk radio has great ratings & the liberal ones just don't do well. By the way, I don't listen to it because I'm a moderate but I do have some conservative & liberal views. I think both sides are totally nutty because they don't seem to have any common sense.

[kohoutek]

You haven't been paying much attention, have you?

[ReElectNoOne]

This could be a good thing! Main stream media has already lost it's ranking thanks to internet media's growth. As they continue to show their biases as opposed to reporting truth and facts, people will continue to move farther away from them and be drawn more and more to the internet for information.

When "corporate media" dies, they will have only their own ignorance and failing quality for reporting to blame.

I posted this poll online...not a single voter things main stream media is doing its job.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/page_poll.php?show=votes&pid=39

Perhaps it is time the "big" editors start to read the lines...not between them.

[AtlantaBill]

Opting out of the FEC funding for his GE campaign is the smartest thing BO has done yet. One hidden fact about electineering here in our great country is the ownership of the radio stations throughout the country. Don't know about most of you but here in GA, you can't turn on the radio without getting a barrage of anti-democrat "talk" on virtually any station you might tune to when driving to/from work. Nationally syndicated programs as well as the many local "talk" stations tout the McCain line 24/7. It constitues a huge disadvantage for any democrat running in the south. Living here and spending a lot of time in the car I finally subscribed to satellite radio recently in hope of escaping the hate-mngerers that own the airwaves here in the south. Thank goodness for the decision made by Obama - I'll gladly contribute as a means on having my viewpoint heard in this election.

[SnapShots]

Can anyone pinpoint anything Obama has actually done wrong in this debate? Call me naive, but to for a candidtate to say he is going to use public campaign financing, then decide later to recant because the use of public campaign financing is not in his best is a matter of choice and matter of campaign strategy, not a matter of deceit or bad morals or poor ethics.

If this had been McCain, he would have been lauded by the MSM. The MSM would have spun it as a way to 'position' McCain as a reformist.

After all, this is a campaign ... a competition. The best campaigner will win. McCain and the MSM are acting like cry-babies.

Also, the MSM who support McCain have slit their own throat by purposely teaching Americans over the years to expect their information to be spoon-fed to them as yes/no, black/white, good/bad. Most Americans are too ignorant of how the whole campaign financing process works to understand what's at play here. As such, most Americans probably think, "Hey, Obama isn't using public money. That's very admirable."