Obama hypocrisy on 527 Political Action Committees. Obama: 'We didn't know.' [View All]

[wyldwolf]

In December, Sen. Barack Obama called on rival Democratic presidential contender John Edwards to tell an independent political action committee that was running pro-Edwards TV ads in Iowa to take them off the air.

Obama's point was that Edwards couldn't denounce the so-called 527 political action groups and then not speak up if one of them was spending money on his behalf.

Edwards responded that he did want to discourage such advertising.

Now, some California Democrats say Obama should tell an independent group that's running ads in their state to take them off the air. The San Francisco Chronicle has the story.

"I'm really disappointed that Sen. Obama has not called on his friends at Vote Hope to pull these ads down," Eric Bauman, chairman of the Los Angeles Democratic Party, tells the Chronicle (which says Bauman has not endorsed any of the Democratic contenders yet). "He harshly criticized Sen. Edwards when supporters ran independent ads on his behalf. And now that it's happened for him, he's not said a word."

Obama spokeswoman Debbie Mesloh tells the Chronicle that "our campaign had no knowledge of these ads and Sen. Obama has in the past expressed concerns about 527s and specifically Vote Hope," the group behind the ads. She also says that "we do not think people should be donating to 527s. ... We would rather have them involved in our campaign."

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/01/some-calif-dems.html