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August 13, 2008

Obama on 527's: Do as I say, not as I do

Rick Moran
You may recall that Barck Obama refused federal financing for his campaign with the excuse that John McCain and the Republicans would spend millions of dollars through 527 groups and he would be an a disadvantage in the ad wars.

Even at the time, it was pointed out that this was ludicrous. The Democrats had several massively funded 527's including Moveon.Org while the Republicans had literally nothing to counter with.

Today, the GOP still has a pitiful effort to fund outside groups - thanks to a stern warning from John McCain that he would disavow such help - while Obama has now embraced these organizations:

But on Monday two reports surfaced suggesting that a softening of Obama's stance may already be taking place. Earlier in the day, Politico's Ben Smith wrote that PowerPAC, a 501c4 that was initiating voter registration efforts primarily in the South and West, was planning to spend $10 million during the election. In the afternoon, FireDogLake's Jane Hamsher reported that "a source close to the Obama campaign," acknowledged their position on independent expenditures was changing.

"Despite actively discouraging donors from giving to groups like Progressive Media at one point, they are now taking the position that it's nothing they have any control over," Hamsher wrote.

So with a wink and a nod, Obama will gratefully accept the help of groups that he piously claimed a few months ago he wanted no part of.

And one of the movers and shakers behind getting the money to start flowing to the 527's is Tom Matzie - the man behind the Gestapo-like effort to silence and intimidate conservative fundraisers:

"Independent groups can talk to constituencies where the Obama campaign or the DNC aren't credible messengers. The best example would be Working America and its reach into white working class communities," said Tom Matzzie, who had headed the organization Progressive Media before starting a new group to target right wing financiers. "There are some groups that are ready to take more donations: Working America, VoteVets, the Choice groups and ACORN to name a few. Otherwise it is almost too late to get a new ground group going. A new advertising outfit could be put together by experienced independent campaigners in a few days. The key is not to fund the grab-ass efforts that are mostly a consultant hustle. Instead invest in really good work."

(HT: Weekly Standard Blog)

Estimates of how much liberal 527's will raise start at $200 million and go up from there.

Is there no limit to the dripping hypocrisy of this man?

Hat Tip: Ed lasky

Posted at 11:51 AM | Email | | | Share Share
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