I need some help re Obama's rejection of Public Financing

[malaise]

1. What did he say about this to St Timmy in the debate.
2. Are Rethugs pissed because he has way more money than Gramps?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Nothing definitive. Yes.

End thread.

[malaise]

2. That was my understanding

Thanks

[no limit]

3. Whenever someone brings this up just remember that McCain actually broke the law in this regard

McCain said he would take public financing but then broke the law:

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/todays_must_read_281.php

So Obama instead of buying in to the public finance system and then breaking the law like McCain he decided to drop out of it instead.

[malaise]

7. The campaign personnel need to be as on point as DUers n/t

[no limit]

9. Also, if I recall correctly Obama never said he would participate in the system

from what I recall he only said he would do everything he could to work out a deal with the republican nominee to do public financing. Since McCain has dropped out of it Obama has no obligation to do so.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. I would have loved to have seen public financing used, but if McCain won't

do it then I don't blame Obama for opting out as well.

[MonkeyFunk]

20. McCain is going to use public financing

[Bucky]

5. The real reason Obama needs to opt out is that Republicans will play shell games with their money

The GOP isn't warming up to McCain just yet. But give them a few months to contemplate a President Obama and they'll start delivering buckets of cash to him and to the dozens of 527s being set up already to smear and slime the Obama family. Obama needs the money because the smear machine is gonna come after him and his wife personally in ways that the Democrats could never envision or stomach.

It's not that Obama has more money than McCain--the truth is that the anti-Obama money simply isn't going to get concentrated in the McCain campaign coffers. These people dislike McCain, but they love trashing progressive politicians even more. They will get ugly and stay ugly and Obama needs the resources just to scrape the shit off his suit.

Besides, Republicans always lecture us that donating money is a form of political speech. If people are sending money to have Obama speak for them, what right has he to artificially limit the amount of speak-spending that does in their name? Wouldn't opting into the public financing system with all its spending limits essentially be a form of politically gagging his own supporters?

[malaise]

6. Thanks -well stated

The campaign peeps on TV need to be as sharp as your post.

[Leopolds Ghost]

19. No, it wouldn't because that money is speech meme is a lie.

The $200 and up donors to the Obama campaign are attempting to buy his
loyalty to their upper middle class, post-Reagan version of liberalism
every bit as much as the lobbyists who are also bundling checks to the
candidates now via the Internet, where it is less traceable who & how
the money comes from. I would like to see Obama do anything other than
bend over backwards to place Clinton as the Democratic version of
Reagan whom he will honor with his policies when he gets in office, but
his first national TV ad begins with praise of welfare reform... you
have your answer.

[Mabus]

8. From transcripts and news reports.

In answer to your first question, I present the transcript from the Feb. 27 Democratic debate. This excerpt is followed by a report from the Economic Times that says lawyers from the two camps met to discuss public financing:

MR. RUSSERT: Senator Obama, let me ask you about motivating, inspiring, keeping your word. Nothing more important. Last year you said if you were the nominee you would opt for public financing in the general election of the campaign; try to get some of the money out. You checked "Yes" on a questionnaire. And now Senator McCain has said, calling your bluff, let's do it. You seem to be waffling, saying, well, if we can work on an arrangement here.

Why won't you keep your word in writing that you made to abide by public financing of the fall election?

SEN. OBAMA: Tim, I am not yet the nominee. Now, what I've said is, is that when I am the nominee, if I am the nominee -- because we've still got a bunch of contests left and Senator Clinton's a pretty tough opponent. If I am the nominee, then I will sit down with John McCain and make sure that we have a system that is fair for both sides, because Tim, as you know, there are all sorts of ways of getting around these loopholes.

Senator McCain is trying to explain some of the things that he has done so far where he accepted public financing money, but people aren't exactly clear whether all the T's were crossed and the I's were dotted.

Now what I want to point out, though, more broadly is how we have approached this campaign. I said very early on I would not take PAC money. I would not take money from federal-registered lobbyists. That -- that was a multimillion-dollar decision but it was the right thing to do and the reason we were able to do that was because I had confidence that the American people, if they were motivated, would in fact finance the campaign.

We have now raised 90 percent of our donations from small donors, $25, $50. We average -- our average donation is $109 so we have built the kind of organization that is funded by the American people that is exactly the goal and the aim of everybody who's interested in good government and politics supports.

MR. RUSSERT: So you may opt out of public financing. You may break your word.

SEN. OBAMA: What I -- what I have said is, at the point where I'm the nominee, at the point where it's appropriate, I will sit down with John McCain and make sure that we have a system that works for everybody.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/us/politics/26text-debate.html?_r=1&fta=y&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

From The Economic Times today:

Lawyers for the two campaigns met in the past fortnight to discuss public financing "and it was immediately clear that McCain's campaign had no interest in the possibility of an agreement," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/McCain_slams_Obama_over_public_financing/articleshow/3146258.cms

So, the short answer to your first question is Obama said he wanted to talk to McCain before making a decision. According to the Economic Times, their lawyers sat down to talk and the McCain people weren't cooperating.

2. Yes. Not only are they pissed, they are scared.

[malaise]

15. Thanks very much n/t

[Hekate]

10. Have you checked Obama's site that combats smears against him? There might be some info there. nt

[malaise]

13. Thanks

I found this over at M$NBC and wonder how Tweety couldn't find it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17417007/
<snip>
Fri., March. 2, 2007

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain, a longtime advocate of limiting the influence of money in political campaigns, will opt out of the post-Watergate presidential public financing system unless the Democratic nominee agrees to campaign under the same financial restrictions, his campaign said Thursday.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/21/mccain_blows_by_public_spendin.html
<snip>
McCain Blows by Public Spending Cap
By Matthew Mosk
Sen. John McCain has officially broken the limits imposed by the presidential public financing system, reports filed last night show.

McCain has now spent $58.4 million on his primary effort. Those who have committed to public financing can spend no more than $54 million on their primary bid.

So has McCain broken the law? The answer is far from simple.

It depends on whether he has, in fact, withdrawn from the public matching program. McCain was certified to enter the matching program last year when he was starved for cash. But once he started to win primaries, he decided to step back from it. On Feb. 6, after his Super Tuesday victories, he wrote to the FEC to announce he would withdraw from the program.

McCain's lawyers said that gave him freedom to spend as much as he wanted -- once he announced his intent to withdraw from the system, they say, he was released from the spending caps.

[KharmaTrain]

11. Hypocrites Showing More Hypocisy

Of course this issue is sure to get jumbled...another desperate attempt by the GOOP to distract away from issues and try to manufacture a "scandal"...but it should expose more of Gramps hypocrisies.

First...Obama offered to NEGOTIATE "opting in" to the system if Gramps promised to do the same. Gramps never did...probably didn't think Obama would be the candidate so why bother...also Gramps has broken FEC rules in taking out a loan for his dwindling campaing. He already broke the rules and expects Obama to play by them?

Then there's the '04 example...IRC, boooshie opted out of the system as well...relying on those "Ranger" checks of $100Gs (the one Gramps can only dream about)...while Kerry played within the system. The result was Kerry was prevented from spending any money between the end of the primaries and his nomination as the official candidate. This was the time the GOOP launched the Swift Boat slimers. Obama would be foolish to repeat this same mistake. Meanwhile Gramps keeps running from fundraiser to fundraiser.

Lastly, yep, the GOOP is pissed that Obama has raised more money, and they're pissed how he's doing it. He's getting small donations...lots of them...not the usual corporate bundlers and influence peddlers. The internet has made it easy for a candidate to raise large amounts of money; taking away the big GOOP advantage. It was this advantage that led many Democrats to favor Campaign finance, but now its proven that a good candidate with a solid organization can outraise a corporate hack selling influence.

The difference is having $80 million via public funding and a minimum of $400 or more through private donations. The GOOP fears what is coming and are desperate to close this gap. Of course the corporate media will paint Obama as greedy, but so be it. Be assured that if Gramps was outraising Obama, he'd be opting out as well.

[malaise]

16. So why didn't Rachel Maddow correct David Gregory

How come KO did his homework and tore McSame a new one.

Thanks Keith.

[Leopolds Ghost]

18. Sounds like you guys're the one advocating hypocrisy and results-oriented ethics.

I would like to vote for the candidate who opposes unlimited private donor
financing of presidential campaigns. Not that the President will ever be
anything more than the tool of the rich (Republicans) or the upper middle
class and affiliated "progressive" business interests (Democrats).

[dtotire]

12. There is a reason

If he uses public financing, he wouldn't have enough money to counter the ads run by the 527 groups. This is what killed Kerry's campaign, he didn't have enough money to counter them.

[malaise]

14. Rthugs are M$M are pissed

so he must have done the right thing.

[MedleyMisty]

17. I heard a story about it on NPR today

that may as well have put "Paid for by Citizens for John McCain" at the end of the reporter's spiel - it was complete with "flip-flopping", even.