Obama Prepares Argument to Discard Public-Financing Principle

Of course I buy it.
His own public financing system is a sensational historical achievement, and a motor of the campaign’s strength and its donaters’ enthusiasm and dedication.
1,300,000 people or more donating to a campaign would for any politician be a fair and strong reason to break any earlier commitment to public financing.
McCain will protest pro forma, but above all he’d wish he had that many people dedicated to strenghtening his candidacy. He’ll understand Obama, but he will probably not say so.
Yes, Obama is writing political history in MANY respects these days.

Of course I don’t buy it…It’s all about the money…and Obama will never keep his word.
Please remember that Obama is the one that solicited and insisted on the public financing pledge. He is a hypocrite.
If he was serious he would offer spending caps for everyone…so that these excessive amounts of money (while America slides into a recession) would be limited.
With the internet fundraising….an American president will only be chosen if they are photogenic and have the right public relations firm.
Dangerous precedent from the guy who wanted to offer us the “politics of hope”

No, I don’t buy it. The man is a hypocrite.

i’m with tawanda. we need to remember how much money the republicans have outside of the actual mccain campaign. it would be irresponsible for him to buy into it now. i’m one of the 1,300,000 that has donated and i’m sure i’ll donate again before the general election.

crisis08, Mark Penn, hill’s pollster advisor, represents that same oil company of which you speak. and it was the execs, not exxonmobil who gave her more than they gave obama, fer tha rekkerd.

Obama would say anything to get a vote.
He has constantly lied though his teeth about so much already, Why would he stop lying now.
He is worse than a tool.
He would use and abuse anyone to get power and money.
He has been involved with some pretty shady characters.
We know he had 250k of laundered money in his campaign that he dumped in charity. I am sure he has plenty more of that.
Anyone who would Lie on or about their best friends and family to the media, will stop at nothing to get what they want.
I think he stands for nothing, all the money he has collect to out do someone, and waste it on another AD or to further himself, when he insist he wants to fight world hunger, and feed the poor.
Of course that would have to be with someone else’s money, not a dime he can use for himself or on himself.
Hypocrite through and through

This is exactly the argument the republicans have been making for all these years.
Flip-Flopper.
Also ask him about his criticism of ‘outside-financing’ in Iowa that he now uses to his advantage.

3 numbers my friend. 527. Obama (hopefully ) or who every the Democratic Nominee is will need that revenue to respond swiftly to the Republican 527 adds. McCain knows that with public financing Obama CAN strike back swiftly and sternly to any of those bogus 527 adds. Republicans bring it
on because unlike the Dukakis campaign and the Kerry Campaign with all due respect, WE WILL BE READY AND WILLING TO RESPOND!!!
OBAMA 08

To Joan,
Hell, it is said that those who do not know will say anything. It is a fact that like me only gave $50.00. Others have done so as well. It is obvious that you voted for that Dummy “W”. Or you just can’t come to deal with the fact that the American People are now ready to stand up for someone that will support their INTEREST.
If you love slavery, vote for the same old thing “McCain or Hillary”.

Hypocrite. Obama claiming he is a uniter after going to his church for 20 years, is like Farrakkan claiming he is a uniter.

This is about choice,and the systems, it since it is still legal,About 1.3million donors?he is redefining the system….Its all about change he has been saying all along,get everybody actively involved.

The thought that the American people are considering putting our lives in his hands is downright scary.

“val”: yeah, “everybody” gets actively involved……LOL…..they’ll be doing his job FOR HIM ! Maybe you young people have time to be “inspired” and “work for obama”, but we working people out here in America with our mortgages and children to raise and our 3 and 4 jobs just to make ends meet DO NOT HAVE TIME to “get actively involved for obama”. That’s a Dream World.

Yeah right, all that money coming in from the executives, spouses, children, friends and other family members of oil industries and nuclear power producers and subprime loan lenders – you know, all the little people. So much for change, so much for new politics. I guess Obama’s idea of change is not public financing but rather bring in more and more money from more and more corporate donors . Whoever believed this guy would actually live up to his word and supposed convictions to make change in this Country has rocks in their head. He couldn’t follow through on his convictions he raised in his anti-war speech . He hasn’t shown us clean politics yet, only the same old dirty politics. When are people actually going to look at this guy’s record of spinelessness and sliding by on charisma and wake up before it’s too late. If you really believe Obama is about change then you should be disappointed in his total backtracking on the issue of public financing. He lies and says he doesn’t take money from the oil industry and subprime lenders, he has registered lobbyists on his staff in key positions just like the other two candidates do, one minute he says the NAFTA meeting didn’t happen and then he said it did but not the way people said it went- whatever. If you want the same old, same old then that’s what you’re going to get with Obama. If I’m going to vote the same old then I’m going to vote for the more experienced same old. What a joke. Like noone didn’t see this one coming. I hope McCain and the Republicans make him look like the hypocrite and liar he is.

Alpaig: ……don’t forget obama’s CHURCH who is UNDOUBTEDLY financially unding him—–that’s TAX-FREE, too.

Yes We Will
“‘When all is said and done, more is said than done.’ We are drowning in words, many of which turn out to be lies we tell ourselves or others.” (p. 7)
“We are a verbal species, much given to the use of words to explain–and deceive. The worst deceptions, of course, are those we practice on ourselves. What we choose to believe is closely related to deeply felt needs . . . . This desire makes us vulnerable to the worst forms of self-deception and disillusionment, an indulgence of the hope that we have at last found the [ideal] person . . . . When, therefore, someone . . . says the words we so long to hear, it is not surprising that we might choose to ignore incongruent behaviors.” (pp. 10-11)
–Dr. Gordon Livingston, Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart

Even before getting to the white house,he has already achieved some “change” he is promising,they way money are raised,this is a record,McCain is for the status quo,so dumb he got jealous and then try to spin it around,campaign finance redefined!!!!! I think Obama should scrap public finance system when he becomes the commander-in-chief.Get the masses to finance your campaign if you think you are worthy to be elected period.

i’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again, no matter who you support, 9 out of 10 of you come across as complete idiots on this blog. i really need to stop coming to abcnews… but google keeps routing me here! stop spitting out campaign rhetoric and start getting real. i’m an obama supporter and i’ll come right out and say he’s contradicting himself on this, even if he does have 1,300,000 donors. but, just like john mccain (who will probably take public financing because he can’t raise enough money… the same reason edwards “decided” to take public financing) and hillary clinton, obama thinks some principles are worth sacrificing to be able to become president and implement your principles. i’d rather see obama win playing some of the old political games and then be able to change the game than lose playing it straight and have everything stay exactly the same.

Barrack Obama sounds,looks and acts presidential, McCain and hillary don’t.

Remember bob dole ? he was also a veteran,lost one of his arm, we all know how veterans who ran on being veterans fared in the general elections,McCain will go the same way too.

alpaig , Well Obama is running on Change,the way washington is handled,lobbyists,out of touch system,he wants to unite the country,change and the hand the government to the people. Got it ?

Sam, you wrote: “…or they Voted for BUSH and would love to see this country go down the tubes as a communist nation.”
Actually you have that backwards. Sen. Obama’s advocacy is much closer to Communism with his calling for wealth redistribution, doing away with our ownership society and giving goverment more control over our lives.

Sorry, Sam! I should have directed that to American9. My apologies.

WestCoastMessenger,we encouraged him,we the poor masses made him to use our money, it is still the public money with the public involvement,he got the public money public money through overwhelming support,you think its easy?

Irma,
Where did your post go? You pointed out the disparity of funding by the wealthy liberal elite, versus the working class, and this got ripped out by the ABC censors? What the h— is going on?
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Is ABC news afraid of the facts?
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Adams,
What poor masses? Are you talking about the east coast Ivy league crowd, the Kennedys, the Rockefellers, the Heinz’s? Or are you talking about the West Coast Kos Mafia, the so-called liberal “intelligentsia”? Obama has received funding from a fraction of 1 per cent of the population. I’m good with the candidates taking the $3 I contribute via my taxes. What’s wrong with that approach? Let’s level the playing field for a change.
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Obama, the elite candidate from Harvard, backed by elites with money!
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Adams,
By the way, what about the commitment he made that he is now positioning to uncommit on? People that break commitments are just pathetic.
=======================================
Obama wants out of his commitment!
Obama doesn’t want to be accountablie for his commitments!
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Irma,
Well said. The difficutlies in this race are coming from the elite, this time from the far left, attempting to position to get their interests met, once again leaving out the working class interests.
=======================================
Obama, of Harvard, does he represent the working class voters?
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Adams,
Your $10 is being used to perpetrate the biggest con on the American people in all of history. Obama, the empty suit, an untested, unknown, inexperienced, fast-talking, guy who always has a ready excuse for everything he does, is going to use that $10 to make you believe he is a blank canvass on which you can paint your dreams no matter what they might be. We used to have revivalist preachers come around trying to perpetrate that same con on the poor country folks all the time. The beauty is that Obama has pulled it on a nation.
========================================
Obama, the blank canvass!
Whatever you want Obama will give it to you!
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WestCoastMessenger, What commitment?I said he got the public money in another hard way,getting people involved also,I mean the poor masses,thereby saving the government public finace,McCain can’t be able to do that,thats why he wants to useless the money.

Roy He’s running on a campaign message which was hashed out amongst his inner circle and was part of a strategic plan and it’s not like there is even one iota of a thing in his record or experience that would make anyone think he is the “change” candidate. He’s a rank and file Democrat, no more and no less. McCain, given his record and experience, would probably be more entitled to that label – and that’s not saying much. Bill Clinton was hope and change and came in talking new politics and represented youth and being outside the Washington establishment when he first ran for President and look at what you Obama supporters think of him. If I were in my early 20′s I would probably be out there in a second working for Obama and not because I wasn’t smart in my 20′s or because I was naive or because I hadn’t been living long enough that my voice shouldn’t count, but I would be enthused about Obama for alot of the same reasons many young people are. At this point I’ve been around long enough though and have voted for enough Democrats and Independents and even a couple Republicans to know that real change is not going to come from a Democrat or Republican. I agree with Obama that change comes from the bottom up but he’s asking you to mobilize, take your energy and money and funnel that to his campaign and he in turn promises you that change. Your bottom up is giving him the Presidency. Not going to happen. Change in this Country has come from individuals and/or a collective of like-minded individuals who had the strength of conviction and the courage to protest the Vietnam War; who refused to sit only where Blacks were supposed to sit; who got out and marched for civil rights, women’s rights and gay rights and so on. Voting for Obama won’t end this war as soon as this war would have been ended if many of the people (in particular young men and women) had taken to the streets and protested this war. Why do you think the likes of Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush haven’t advocated the implementation of the draft? Do you really think for one minute they would oppose a draft? They know if every family in this Country had to potentially sacrifice their young son or daughter for this war that this war couldn’t have happened or it wouldv’e ended sooner. They know this from Vietnam. They know people would have taken to the streets and protested and that’s where change from the bottom up would come from. Not from voting for this Democrat or that Democrat. The people of this Country can impact any politician and any direction this Country takes from their mobilizing from the bottom up. That change won’t come from casting your vote for a politician though. Oh ,they (politicians) make changes though, they look at the polls and the polls say NAFTA is big issue in PA so they talk about NAFTA in PA as Goolsbee is talking to the Canadians and saying “wink-wink he doesn’t mean what he’s saying” or Penn is down in Columbia working out his own deal (and personally I think the Goolsbee situation is of more concern even though Penn needs to go completely). Obama talks campaign reform until he starts breaking records on campaign contributions, then flip-flop, flip-flop. They’re all the same. Simple as that. What I can’t stand about Obama is that he promises , and it’s a campaign strategy on his part and nothing more, something he knows he will not follow through on. He’s never followed through on anything in his past record, so why would he be any different now? Clinton is Clinton, good or bad, but she’s not an apologist for the system of which she is part of and she’s not promising new politics, she’s promising realistic change from Bush or a McCain. She hasn’t raised the bar too high for herself nor has she boxed herself into a corner that she can’t live up to. Clinton has her embellishments but with Obama you’re getting the one big lie. If the press should be attacking anyone it should be the candidate who’s selling the people of this Country a bag of goods. His backtracking on public financing is proof positive of what is to come.

alpaig,no one should hang anything on Obama,if the masses encourages him with there 10 dollars thats a good thing for the country,this is another way of demonstrating by the public,we had washington system for a long time now,I don’t ever believe Obama being a fake will get to this stage in a country where you have the strongest democracy,with hundreds of millions of people,had it been he was a billionire or was well connected,maybe i will have a second thought,i think some people with reasons best known to them just want to bring him down,the buttom line is Obama is leading a movement not just a political campaign,clinton can tell better,its a formidable force,Obama has come to stay,and should be listened to.we as a nation needs some change,we don’t want the type of bush government again,from the historic surplus to the historic deficit,what a waste.

James Danley,you know what,forget about Obama,clinton and McCain,To salvage our image,we have to clean up iraq,Obama said he will bring back our troops as quick as possible,i dont think he will just go and do it.why i support him is he is intelligent enough to know what to do best,this war is killing us,billions of dollars everymonth,lives,bush created the iraq battle field,al qaeda wasn’t there,i dont mean if we succeed that there is no gain,what i mean is the sacrifice is way too much,McCain will make things worse,no doubt about that.what i mean is we try a new way with a new face,with a new strategy,how about that.

About is correct. His source of money for the general election could be solely from the internet which is public financing. It will not be from lobbyest or corporations but from the people himself.
I think that people will accept that.

Roy I come from the State of Jesse Ventura and Paul Wellstone. Wellstone was about the people and he went to the Senate with passion, enthusiasm, ready to make change and take on the system and he ended up looking like a big doofus at the beginning. But he learned, he learned to work within the system and in the process he disappointed some of his supporters. But he was the real deal, he was about the people but he had to learn to be realistic and compromise. The veterans in this State were one of his staunchest
critics but by the time he died they were one of his strongest supporters. Now Ventura was an outside, but he was about Jesse Ventura. That became more apparent the longer he was in office.
He came in expecting to make big changes and by the time his Governorship was over he couldn’t get out of there soon enough. The best we can say about Ventura is that the State of MN. still stands but he was not effective, at least in regards to the areas he wanted to be effective in. There was resistance in the legislature based in many ways on his being an outsider, being less experienced and his arrogance. Obama is more Ventura than Wellstone. Obama isn’t about the people rather he’s about Obama. He’ll encounter resistance in Congress based on his lack of experience and arrogance, they won’t just rally around Obama and unite in his promises of hope and change. The fairy dust around him will disappear and he won’t be the media darling and he won’t be treated with kid gloves anymore, and they won’t make it easy for him. I don’t for one second buy into his unity, hope and change message and there are many like myself so he has a very impossible task to take on. His concern isn’t his supporters and the rest of us and that’s not going to be easy to accomplish.

Bush should know Iran was the biggest threat in the first place,majority of the hijackers are from saudi,the leaders of the named terrorist group are from egypt and saudi arabia,instead of pressuring their government,he overlooked them and went for oil,sadam was rendered powerless by the 12years of sactions,there was no airforce,no navy in iraq at the time he attacked them,what nobody seem to remember was how bush was singing regime change in in Iraq, when he was campaigning against gore,he had wanted to finish from where his father stopped(cheney’s idea).al-quaeda no al-qaeda,911 or no 911,weapons of mass destruction or not bush would still have gone to war with iraq with a different reason,McCain being an o yes member will make things more difficult,Being an american,i want the best for my country,I want us to purge the middle east of all the terrorist,war on terror is a delicate war,I will vote for a more cautious candidate,I will vote for Barack Obama.

He’s just another typical politician. Hopefully people will realize it before it’s too late.

How come Obama couldn’t take time off from campaigning to honor Martin Luther KIng either on his birthday or at the memorial services in behalf of his assassination? Both of the other candidates were there; only Obama was missing>
Where oh where is Pastor Wright? Hidden from the camera’s eye so that Obama won’t be further embarassed by him?
That’s ok though; He’s got a six million dollar home in the works plus a ten million dollar pension…. just like every other pastor, be they black, green or white.
Where oh where is Michelle O? Also hidden away for safety sake?
You may be very taken with this man with the velvet voice and the borrowed words.
But some of us are very afraid of this unknown quantity. Very Very afraid…..

answerer – Apparently Obama doesn’t believe in promises that he made either.

dogsoldier I agree. But it makes me feel better to get it off my chest but I know Obama supporters could care less about facts, positions, records or experience. I would just like once though for an Obama supporter to come back with something, anything, to support their candidate instead of hope, change, unity, he wrote a good book, gives good speeches , he’s Black (that’s coming fromt their mouths, not mine), he’s not Clinton , he’s not Bush, he’s not McCain, he’s the messiah,
he’s young and out with the old and in with the new. But they can tell me absolutely nothing about him that anyone couldn’t figure out with the just the minimal amount of attention to these primaries. Instead I get long lists of Clinton offenses that sometimes I swear come out of the archives of the National Enquirer or National Examiner. Oh, my personal favorites are the one’s who feel that Clinton destroyed family values and set women back 100 years and personally affected their family, by her standing by Bill during the Monica period. I swear I could say right now that Obama has said the first thing he is going to do once he gets in office is nuke Iran, Pakistan and anyone else who gets in his way that day, and the Obama supporters wouldn’t care. He’s hope and change. Unreal. They bow at the narcissistic feet of Obama, but you know the movement starts from the bottom up I guess.

alpaig,
what state are you in?

merle7 – Obama money? Does this include the sub prime fund Obama is taking at the expense of throwing homeowners out on the street?
Obama has taken $1,180,103 from the top issuers of subprime loans. [cq.com]
Obama received $266,907 from Lehman. [Cq.com]
Obama received $5395 from GMAC. [Cq.com]
Obama received $150,850 from CS First Boston . [Cq.com]
Obama received $11,250 from Countrywide. [Cq.com]
Obama received $9052 from Washington Mutual. [Cq.com]
Obama received $161,850 from Citigroup. [Cq.com]
Obama received $4600 from CBASS. [Cq.com]
Obama received $170,050 from Morgan Stanley. [Cq.com]
Obama received $1150 from Centex. [Cq.com]
Obama received $351,900 from Goldman Sachs. [Cq.com]
Yeah, that’s a talent alright?

Gotta go guys. I’m working the night shift and oil doesn’t pump completely on its own so I have to do my job.

If Mccain can not raise as much money as obama, that’s his problem.
He shouldn’t try to drag him down to his level by invoking the public financing system.
Anybody in Obama’s shoes will do the same. Either Mccain or Hillary or whoever.
Why would you restrict your fund raising if you discover that you can raise much more? Let’s be practical and realistic.

The pledge which both candidates signed on to were for the general election. Neither party signed the pledge for the primary, which is a different pot of money.
Hillary did not sign the pledge for either the Primary or GE.
McCains loans have already been dealt with.

Obama will talk to the crazy one in Iran who advocates the destruction of Israel and working day and night to build the “bomb” so he can use it on us.
Meanwhile, he will not even speak to President Uribe of Colombia because he would rather see Hugo Chavez rule all of South America.
If you want to bring disaster to America vote for Obama. He is just a cheap politician from the south side of Chicago plotting revolution with Rev. Wright his mentor.
What is wrong with this picture?

He is looking at the individual voter…and I think up until recently he wanted to work something out because I believe he wanted to stick to that but then he realized this public finance thing …is really fake because of all the 527′s (and to be honest on both sides)
The 527′s are political and corporate/wealth/special interest organization financed and when they are throwing the numbers at either candidate the election is thrown out of whack…
This argument is the best one in the short term…

Smartprimate…. Bravo! There is nothing wromg with reminding everyone what pledges were made by “He That Walks On Water”. Just Words???????????

I cant wait until this nightmare ends…
“HE WILL CHANGE WASHINGTON…SO, JUMP ON BOARD AND WATCH HIM & HIS TEAM RESTORE AMERICA TO ITS GREATNESS ONCE AGAIN!
OBAMA / WEBB ’08″

I have never submitted any contribution to the Public Fund on my tax return.
1. Why would I want to pay for some guy I don’t want to pay for.
2. There is no public fund for the primary, so it is kind of a mute point.
3. He would be a fool to turn down the funds he can raise from small guy.
4. Clinton wouldn’t use public fund neither
5. McCain is broke and cannot compete, hr has no support and I don’t want him for presdident so I don’t want any of the public money to help him.
6. there is too many other ways these guys can get money spent for them anyway.

I think Obama has certainly proven himself. His came into this race with nothing but a dream and is now the front runner. You have to give him credit. He has overcome racism, party politics, attacks in his religion and the Clinton “machine”.
Whether he gets the nomination or not you have to give him credit.

Tony, I’m asking this seriously and with respect. I often hear Obama supporters say that he will change Washington. How exactly do you see him doing that? Do you expect Republicans to rally around his liberal ideas? Do you expect that Kennedy and Kerry, who couldn’t get elected president themselves, don’t have plans for Obama to do their bidding? Do you think he’s going to decree that the influence of lobbyists be gone and they magically are? (And you do realize that there are some good guys among the lobbyists, don’t you?) Do you think the question of race in America is going to be put to rest once and for all? (And what happens if Obama has as tragic a presidency as Bush 43 has had? Remember, he ran on “change” too. Will that effect race relations in a negative way?) Please share with us your vision of a President Obama. Thank you.

Obama’s numbers speak for themself. He is getting public financing. He’s the only candidate refusing PAC donations. He’s the only candidate refusing money from registered lobbyists.
The debate is pointless. Right now, whether or not McCain accepts public financing, he is setting up a system by which he will see rich donor contributing tens of thousand of dollars to his party, all legal under the current system. Even if he goes for public financing, he will 2300 dollars a donor. Meanwhile, he’ll have dozens of 527s with no regulations on their contributions, doing much of his dirty work for him.
And what will Obama have? A vastly distributed small donor base, numbering in the millions, including some fat cats, but also including millions of ordinary Americans.
If our aim is to elect a candidate not dependent on special interests, one who can take political risks that might lose him the fat cats and still survive, then Obama is a superior candidate with a superior funding mechanism. If our intention is to value formalities over realities, then we ought to vote for McCain, and let him and his Lobbyist saturated campaign run.

Obama demonstrated poor judgment by underestimating the efficacy of his candidacy then. He was a political fool to make a pledge and is coming off as disingenuous for going back on his word. He is a typical politician after all.

I think Obama assumes two things: one, the success of his primary fundraising will falter in the general election, as people who’s spirit is willing but wallets faltering run out of money, and he has to rely then on assumption number two, that he’ll gobble up the lion’s share of Hillary’s donor base in the general election.
His first assumption, that people will flat out run out of money, is spot on. Already, his monthly totals have plateaued, and even slipped, comparatively speaking.
His second is dicey. It really depends on whether party loyalty and a dislike for McCain will translate into keeping Democrats, particularly traditional “Reagan Democrats Who’ve Got Bucks”, in line. Given how hard he’s hammered Hillary, and how close all three candidates are on so many issues (absent Iraq), it’s not hard to see how people might defect.

What’s the big deal? The whole idea of “getting money out of politics” and implementing public campaign financing is to curb the influence of corporate lobbyists and special interest contributions; Obama has already pledged not to take them and has found enormous success in piecemeal online fundraising, so why should he opt out of it?

OBAMA HAS LIED ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE, WHY SHOULDN’T HE LIE ABOUT KEEPING HIS WORD ON HIS PLEDGE FOR PUBLIC FINANCING LAST YEAR. THIS GUY IS SUCH A FRAUD,

Can anyone explain Obama’s relationship with Father Michael Pfleger?

Obama should go with his supporters. He will need all the funds he can get to counteract the garbage they throw at him when Mr. Rove kicks in to help McCain win.

All he’s doing is what he’s been doing all along: causing people across the board to change their paradigms. How much more public can one get with public-financing if the funds are coming directly from 100,000,000 persons? Heaven! Help me to find the answer to that conundrum, please?

merle7 – Obama money? Does this include the sub prime fund Obama is taking at the expense of throwing homeowners out on the street?
Obama has taken ($1,180,103) from the top issuers of subprime loans. [cq.com]
Obama received ($266,907) from Lehman. [Cq.com]
Obama received ($5395) from GMAC. [Cq.com]
Obama received ($150,850) from CS First Boston . [Cq.com]
Obama received ($11,250) from Countrywide. [Cq.com]
Obama received ($9052) from Washington Mutual. [Cq.com]
Obama received ($161,850) from Citigroup. [Cq.com]
Obama received ($4600) from CBASS. [Cq.com]
Obama received ($170,050) from Morgan Stanley. [Cq.com]
Obama received ($1150) from Centex. [Cq.com]
Obama received ($351,900) from Goldman Sachs. [Cq.com]
Yeah, that’s a talent alright?
OBAMA HAS RAISED $240,000,000. THE AMOUNT (ABOVE) IS BARELY CLOSE TO $3,000,000.
OBAMA RAISED MORE THAN $230,000,000 FROM WELL OVER 2,000,000 DONORS.
THAT AMOUNT ABOVE ARE NOT FROM SPECIAL GROUP AND OBAMA WILL BE INDEBT TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BECAUSE HE HAS RAISED MORE THAN 96% FROM THEM NOT FROM LOBBIST OR OIL COMPANY OR ANY OTHER STUPID GROUP THAT STOP GOOD THINGS FROM HAPPENING IN AMERICA.
OBAMA SHOULD LISTEN TO HIS SUPPORTERS. IF THEY WANT TO FUND HIS CAMPAIGN THEN THEY SHOULD AND BESIDES MCCAIN AND CLINTON ARE NOT COMPETIIVE WITH ALL THE MONEY FROM PACS & LOBBYIST.

It would be great to have a general election in which the focus is on the candidate’s differences on the issues and not their personal foibles. Would publicly financing achieve that? Would tax-exempt 527 groups be banned from advertising? Would each candidate receive the same amount? Not sure how it would work.
I do agree that his campaign is in large part funded by small donators like me who have never before given a penny to any campaign.

Now that’s what I call “change you can believe in”!

I think Obama evolved. In nonpolitical speak, Obama lied or contemplated a distinctly different future.
It is obvious his first position was one on principle. This second one is based on his ability to raise money outside of the public financing system’s rules.
I think he should just say. I am now able to raise sums of money no one contemplated last year that Democrats would be able to go to regular people and ask for money. These regular people changed the political calculation/system for me and other Democrats.
He can go back to the evils his initial position tried to resolve and say why it is not the case now.
The thing is for him to admit the difference. If flip flop applies, cozy up to it.

So, Obama changed his mind. In his position I would too. Is that illegal? Did he sign a contract, take an oath?
C’mon, this is politics. McCain has been gaming the public financing system himself. In fact he may even have done some more or less illegal shenanigans, including using the promise of public money to collateralize a $4 million loan. If McCain chooses to make an issue of public financing, it will boomerang on him. This is one reason why he has been mum on the subject lately.

Obama only does what is good for Obama, if that means he has to change his mind over and over again, so be it. He SAYS what he wants people to believe, and many simply do as they are told. It’s so much easier that way. Pied Piper.

He won’t need it anyway because Hillary’s going to win so who cares but its just like him to say one thing and do another.

I buy it, yes. It’s clear the conservatives are gearing up for another swift boat summer and fall, and he — Obama — needs to prepared to fight that.

I have donated to a presidential candidate for the first time in my life. I’m 37. It was a whopping $50. My boyfriend has given $25, also for the first time in his 34 years. We are public financing.
Like we sometimes look at a spirit of the law, let’s consider this the spirit of the idea behind public financing.

I seem to hear a lot of sour grapes here from Hillary’s supporters that Obama lies. Address the question, please.
I also have one word for you. Bosnia.

I forgot to mention – I REALLY hope he doesn’t kick us small donors out of the process with accepting taxpayer funding. The Obama campaign has had some bumps along the road with grassroots fundraising – but in the main, it’s been a great experience to participate in this way.

Ok – isn’t it against the law for Clinton to accept help from Elton John? The concert is today but the Election Commission says:
U.S.C. SS 441a. Accordingly, the Commission concludes that a foreign national artist would be prohibited by 2 U.S.C. SS 441e from donating his uncompensated volunteer services to the Committee to create an original work of art for the Committee’s use in fundraising. The second question raised in your request is whether the contribution exception for uncompensated volunteer services provided by an individual to a candidate or political committee would apply in the specific situation you describe. This question is not reached since the Commission has concluded in responding to your first question that the foreign, national artist may not donate his volunteer services to the Committee for the purposes described in your request. This response constitutes an advisory opinion concerning application of the Act, or regulations prescribed by the Commission, to the specific transaction or activity set forth in your request. See 2 U.S.C. SS 437f.

I think we’re being premature. Nothing is decided.
“If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.” Obama
Realize that pursing and agreement is not the same as just up and signing one. It requires negotiations with McCain.
What many don’t seem to understand or overlook is that that agreement isn’t merely looking for a signature. That agreement would have to deal with the upcoming 527s and/or other loop holes for the swiftboating attempts by the Republicans in order for fairness. That agreement would also have to deal with the situation where McCain backs out of public financing as he has during the primary (with the legality of it still in question based upon what I last heard). It’s naïve for anyone to overlook that.
In the event that an agreement isn’t reached, Obama cannot stop raising funds for his campaign. He also can’t reveal much commitment to do so now or the funding will dry up with the perception that people don’t need to contribute (which is at the heart of what the Republicans are up to right now – hurt his funding).
Obama needs a good cashflow until the end of August so there’s no way you’re going to get a commitment out of him now. There won’t be a commitment until McCain sits down and haggles an agreement late this summer.

Financing by massive numbers of small donors is the best kind of public financing.
I don’t like government provided financing, because that leaves the gov. to decide who gets money and who doesn’t. It distorts elections by providing money based on who won how many votes in previous elections.
I have donated to Edwards, then Clinton and now Obama.
Obama should opt out, if he can do it with small donors.

HoosierSue:
The beauty of the “change” slogan for the Obama campaign is that it isn’t just Obama that will create it: its us. No, the Republicans aren’t going to just roll over and die, but if they have hundreds of constituents pressuring them to support policies that are good for the American people (for a change) then they’ll have to do it, or risk their seats. You see, it’s not just about trying to get Obama president, it’s about creating a movement, a new “moral majority” if you will, that create change. It’s up to US.

Even as a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, I was never comfortable with excluding private money from electioneering, since it is, truly, a form of political speech. At the same time, until recently, Republicans held a huge advantage in fundraising since there are far more big money donor republicans than dems, or at least there were until recently. But with the advent of small time internet donations, the playing field has been more than leveled, at least for exceptional candidates.
Problem solved. Do away with public financing.

Perhaps Obama should do what McCain did. Accept public financing. Use that public financing as collateral for a loan. Then outspend the public financing pledge.
Obama never agreed to accept public financing, he agreed to talk about it. And he is doing it right now.
Someone earlier said that most of Obama’s money is coming from big contributors. This wasn’t true in January and I doubt it is true today.
Coming into January, many more of Clinton’s donors had already reached the $2,300 limit for individual donations. A report just completed by the Campaign Finance Institute showed that Clinton raised more than half her money in 2007 from donors who gave the maximum allowed by law. Obama, in comparison, raised just one-third of his money from $2,300 donors.

metryjen, you can do that (bombard your congressmen with e-mails and phone calls) now. You don’t need Obama in power to do it. If he’s telling you that you do, then he’s trying to fool you.
If you’re talking about him sending you an automatic e-mail letter that you forward on to your congressmen, then you’re letting him do your thinking for you. In fact, his opponents will sign up for those same e-mails with the sole purpose of seeing what he wants you to say and then sending their own e-mail saying the exact opposite. And ’round and ’round it goes.
Minions are minions, whether they’re fueled by far-right talk radio hosts or far-left liberal politicians. It will be extremely easy to fall into a pattern of simply doing what Obama says without looking too closely or questioning – and that’s nothing but a replay of what we’ve been getting from the right for too many years now. It doesn’t serve a diverse America well.
I’m sorry if you feel I’m beating up on you. I truly don’t mean to. I appreciate your thoughtful reply to me.

I bet he’s going to spend the extra money on cigarettes and special cologne to throw the journalstic bloodhounds off the trail. Go get ‘em Jakey!

Obamas word thats a laugh, this is a sterling example of his ability to be honest to even a small degree.He gave his word and now he wants to not do what he said he would.

If Obama can’t take private funds then how does Hillary get away with a foreign national (Elton John) hosting a fundraiser for her? The law says foreign nationals cannon contribute directly OR INDIRECTLY to any presidential campaign. I don’t want to be restricted from voting for the candidate I support.

Obama doesn’t play by the rules. He has backers who raise millions more than the other candidates. I wonder what price he will have to pay, for all that support in the end. Money is buying Obama the nomination and he figures it will buy him the presidency. Why would he run on an equal playing field, with public financing? He also stated , the nomination for presidency should be the will of the people, but yet he has done every thing to prevent a revote in Michigan and Florida. He was not to campaign in Florida, thats why he spent 1.3 million in ads in that state prior to the primary.

Although Obama came into this election with virtually no track record, his actions are consistently revealing who he really is … by saying, or doing what ever it takes to get elected … whether it’s using technicalities to eliminate opponents … throwing associates under the bus … winning the nomination without winning the popular vote … breaking his word … or buying the Presidency … just like he bought the nomination. I think it’s becoming very clear which candidate is truly sincere, ethical, and trustworthy … and that’s Senator John McCain.