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Thomas de Zengotita

Thomas de Zengotita

Posted: June 9, 2008 04:59 PM

How Obama Might Frame His Shift On Public Financing


He should reiterate his commitment to refusing money from lobbyists and special interest PACS, emphasize that the DNC is following his lead and challenge the Republicans to do the same. Then he should say that the whole point of the public financing legislation was to limit the influence of just such donors, so he is being true to the spirit of that legislation. But not, he should add, right up front--to the letter of his original commitment, a commitment he made way back in March of--2007.

He should dwell on that date. March, 2007. Then he should say something like:

A lot has happened since then, as you know. Circumstances have changed and, when that happens, policy should sometimes change as well. Nobody dreamed that our campaign would get that outpouring of support--X million in donations of $250 dollars or less from Y millions of donors who aren't affiliated with any corporate special interest or lobbyists. That's more than Z times the number of any other candidacy in history. If I were to ignore this change in circumstances, if I were turn my back on the ordinary Americans who want to support our campaign in this way and, yes, if I were to relinquish the advantage that kind of support gives our candidacy in this watershed election--well, I really would be naïve.

 
 
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03:36 PM on 06/10/2008
Obama has the difficult task of proving he's a "different kind of politician".

Breaking promises and jettisoning his deeply held beliefs and close friends when they become political liabilities, and then trying to "frame" his actions with rhetoric is going in exactly the WRONG direction.
01:18 PM on 06/10/2008
Obama, his supporters, the DNC, the party elite, and the mainstream media have conspired to marginalize the millions of Democrats who have voted for Hillary, and they will now be using every trick in the book to "bring the party together" to further their ruthless ambitions. They will want you to forget all about the months of biased press, the biased party elite, the insults, the sexist remarks, and the race-cards. They will want you to forget that the Democratic Party now is the party that stands for disenfranchisement of the voters and the rationalization of racism. They will use any method to persuade you to vote for the man who they have preordained as the Democratic nominee. DON'T FALL FOR IT!

Whether you write-in Hillary, if possible, vote for John McCain, or sit out the election, right now, for the sake of our families and our country, WE MUST DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER to assist in the defeat of the inexperienced, ruthless, deceptive, divisive, racist black liberation theology believing, race card throwing Obama. We can always come back to the Democratic Party if and when they show a desire to respect our participation, and field an acceptable candidate.
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CindyV
12:15 PM on 06/10/2008
Flip flop. I can just see the McCain ads now. Obama said he was for public financing before he was against it.
11:42 AM on 06/10/2008
I think Obama ought to take the money and ignore the fallout, because the American people don't really care about campaign financing. If they did, everybody would check the $1 checkoff on their taxes and everybody would scream bloody murder about campaign finance reform until it was actually accomplished.

For once the disproportion of campaign finance income redounds to the Democrats' benefit. Pretty amazing coincidence that this is *suddenly* the campaign that supposedly the American people expect complete equilateral financing between the two parties.
03:37 PM on 06/10/2008
If Obama rejects public financing, then should McCain get Obama's share too?

Facing an opponent with ALL the public money instead of only half would be good motivation for taking it.
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NABNYC
11:33 AM on 06/10/2008
Nice try but no sale. I'm an Obama supporter, I'm glad he's getting money and I hope he wins. But this entire campaign season has been nothing but an obscene bidding contest between rich special-interest groups, mostly anti-American or at a minimum un-American, who only want special treatment for their group and forget about everyone else. The bidding war shows the complete breakdown of our political system by corruption and an abandonment of any coherence among the people of this country.

We've got Harvey Weinstein supposedly threatening Pelosi that he and "his people" (presumably Jewish Americans) will give not one penny to any Democrat unless Hillary is chosen over Obama. So the only thing that matters is making sure Israel gets $10 billion of my money every year, and everyone in the U.S., all the homeless and sick and unemployed just do not matter. Then we've got the business lobbies, of course, who only want to continue raping and pillaging. And "Hispanic" groups claim they want open borders (too bad if it drives down wages and throws Americans out of work) and Spanish-instruction schools.

This campaign is a disgrace. Get money completely out of politics and then maybe the politicians will go back to doing their job, which is acting on behalf of the citizens of the U.S. first and only.
11:31 AM on 06/10/2008
Another point of public financing is to level the playing field. How fair can any election be when one candidate has $100 million and the other has much much less. I guess Obama supporters don't care about being fair as long as they win. Rationalize away.
12:04 PM on 06/10/2008
Are you suggesting that Republicans are concerned about being fair? Besides, I disagree with the premise of your nonsensical statement. It is perfectly fair to let the American people speak with their small donations. It shows our leaders that we are not happy. It is another type of vote and one that should be heard. You don't "level the playing field" against people who lie, cheat and steal. If the Republicans in this country are serious about winning without those dirty tricks, they need to raise cash from a groundswell like Obama's campaign has. They have Internet access do they not?
02:05 PM on 06/10/2008
Think about what you are saying. We should vote with our money, in other words. What voice would the poor have? You know if you have a ton of money and you can plaster your name and face all over the television screen, YOU WILL WIN.

I would never suggest that republicans are being fair. Fairness isn't even an issue with republicans. I'm just saying I don't like seeing what used to be my party of choice become EXACTLY like the republicans.
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XME
Life is hard. After all, it kills you.
07:32 PM on 06/09/2008
I like it...especially the naive remark. However, I wouldn't think they should bring it up, only say this if they are pushed with the challenge again...