Obama says he won't take public campaign funds

Friday 20th June, 07:37 AM JST

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WhiteHawk at 11:34 PM JST - 20th June

But I really do enjoy the desperation in the republicans posts. < :-)

"desperation" is the DNC replacement word for "facts"?
change at 12:48 AM JST - 21st June

RedMeat, Don't pour sand into our eyes. Even Qadaffi was critizing him for being too white than whites. He NEVER mention or neither is there a prove of suspicion of financial help. Your hate for the guy shouldn't cover your sense of truthness
WhiteHawk at 12:50 AM JST - 21st June

Hmmmm. After I wrote my 11:23 post, I stumbled upon a column at Townhall by Richard Collins, titled The Audacity of Abandonment:

If I were a supporter of Barack Obama I would be nervous. Why? Is it his inexperience, his radical connections, or his stale liberal positions? Nope. I would be nervous because he seems fundamentally incapable of sticking with his principles on a host of issues large and small.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/RichardHCollins/2008/06/19/the audacity of abandonment?page=1

"Change" indeed.
adaydream at 12:57 AM JST - 21st June

I loved the article, but I'd still rather vote for Obama and know we're going to pull out of Iraq, eventually. That we're not going to attempt to stay in permanent bases in Iraq another 100 years, if "who" thinks we need to stay. The republicans?

Even if we wound up with "NO" new president and the congress ran the show, it would be better than what we have or McCain.

But gawd, please keep telling me how terrible and uninformed he is. Even on my worst day, McCain is just another war-monger. < :-)
WhiteHawk at 01:47 AM JST - 21st June

Even if we wound up with "NO" new president and the congress ran the show, it would be better than what we have or McCain.

Is that the same congress that has approval ratings less than half those of president Bush? The lowest in history, in fact, for any congress? The same congress that ran on a platform of immediate surrender in and withdrawal from Iraq? The same congress that tried to undermine our efforts in iraq by cutting funding for the troops, but didn't have the stones to pull it off? The same congress that ran on a platform of doing "something" about high gas prices? The same congress intentionally sabotaging the oil industry in the hopes of nationalizing it?

At least you've recognized there is a congress.
goodDonkey at 01:49 AM JST - 21st June

Obama has more individuals contributing to his campaign than any other canidate ever has. THAT IS PUBLIC FUNDING!
taikan at 01:49 AM JST - 21st June

a lot of federal court appointments granting judgeships for life go to prominent donors who are often undistinguished lawyers or not even lawyers

chardk1 -- I cannot disagree with your statement that many persons appointed as federal judges were not particularly distinguished lawyers, but I challenge you to name a single individual appointed to a lifetime (Article III) federal judgeship in the past 50 years (or, for that matter, the past 100 years) who was not an attorney.

As for Obama's hypocrisy in committing to accept federal funding (with its concomitant spending limits) if his opponent did so, and then reneging on that commitment, I think this displays Obama's skills as a politician. Against Hillary, he needed to portray himself as the "agent of change," and he did so quite successfully. Against McCain, he will need to retool his image in order to avoid being portrayed as being too "naive" or "idealistic" to protect America's interests as President. By showing that he is willing to take whatever advantage he can in order to beat McCain, he has shown that he is neither naive nor unrealistically idealistic.
RomeoRamenII at 01:54 AM JST - 21st June

WhiteHawk

True dat in your 11:23 post. Every day obama looks more like the Washington insider he campaigned against in the primary. The same Washington insider he complained was corrupted by special interests and their money.

What's more, obama, by reniging on his pledge to accept public financing, gives yet more credence to the corrupt associations he has with chicago politics and the likes of Wright, Ayres, and Rezko.

Then again, perhaps this is what obama thinks is "The Change We Can Believe In".

RR
adaydream at 04:33 AM JST - 21st June

That's them WhiteHawk.

The very same.

Pssst..Rating are that way because what they try to do, george vetos what the people actually want.

But I think george's rating may have even dropped lower than congress. Can't swear on that. < :-)
sdmsec at 11:58 AM JST - 21st June

While I can fault Obama on almost all of his political views I can't fault him for this choice. At least he shows a spark of political intelligence to not tie his own hands for no reason. After all, isn't he in this race to win?

While I could never vote for the Socialist Obama this article reminds me why it will be very hard to vote for McCain - he's just a lesser socialist without a clue. His campaign finance reforms effectively give greater power to the press at the expense of the people who are paying the bills in the USA.
RedMeatKoolAid at 02:31 PM JST - 21st June

With this decision Barack Obama clarifies the Dems' identity: The Rich Lawyer Party. It was never about principles. Lawyers love this guy even more than Hillary. Check for yourself at http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/select.php?ind=K01
SushiSake3 at 03:42 PM JST - 21st June

"With this decision Barack Obama clarifies the Dems' identity: The Rich Lawyer Party."

Grasping at non-existant straws.

Is that the new strategy for McCain supporters?
DanManjt at 11:50 PM JST - 22nd June

Weekend Election Roundup

If the election where today:

www.electoral-vote.com has Obama increasing again in the Electoral College.

Obama 317 McCain 194 Ties 27 Two weeks ago was Obama's 287 to McCain's 227, with 24 tied. Last week its Obama's 304 to McCain's 221, with 13 tied. The big change is Florida has moved from Republican into the neutral column.

The PBS Newshour -- www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/primaries/states/ -- is unchanged from last week, with McCain still leading with 227 sure or likely EVs (232) to Obama's 200 (217), with the remainer up for grabs.

Last week Real Clear -- www.realclearpolitics.com/ -- had Obama leading 238 Obama/ 190 Mc / 110 Tossup. This week Obama stayed the same, but McCain lost FLorida's 27, so its (238/163/137) If the Election where held today, and toss up states were included, Obama would win by a sqeecker 289 to 249. In the popular vote, Obama leads McCain 47.5 41.9 Obama +5.6 which is an increase of + 3.8 (46.2 to 42.3) from last week.

And finally Rasmussen -- www.rasmussenreports.com -- "The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows Barack Obama attracting 47% of the vote while John McCain earns 40%. When "leaners" are included, Obama leads 49% to 42%. These results show a slight uptick for Obama since he formally opted out of public funding for the Presidential campaign this fall." These data show Obama increasing his lead over McCain from last week ( 46% to 39%./ 49% to 43%.) For two week now, Obama has enjoyed a lead of five-to-seven points over McCaiin, which is the reverse of April and May.

The Rasmussen Reports with the Electoral College has Obama leading in states with 200 Electoral College votes while John McCain leads in states with 174 votes. When leaners are included, Obama leads 284-240. On Friday, June 20, Colorado moved from Leans Democratic to Toss-Up but Ohio did the reverse, moving from Toss-Up to Leans Democratic.

This is the first movement in the EC in months, a movement towards Obama

Conclusion: these data show a slight upswing for Obama. Particularly in the states of Florida, Colorado, Virginia, and Ohio which the Obama campaign is trying to make "battle ground."

Nevertheless, its way to early for any meaningful forecasts. We've got a lot of time between now and November.
DanManjt at 11:54 PM JST - 22nd June

As for this thread, I choose to ignore partisan teeth gnashing/hand wringing and go with the facts: Obama's flip on campaign funds is not a deal breaker.

"Opting Out of Public Funding Unlikely to Hurt Obama"

Despite all the agonized media coverage of Barack Obama’s decision to opt out of public funding for Election 2008, the decision is likely to have little impact on Obama’s standing with voters. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 30% of voters favor public funding and just 16% say it is Very Important in determining their vote. These results are consistent with earlier polling on the topic.

http://rasmussenreports.com/publiccontent/politics/election20082/2008presidentialelection/optingoutofpublicfundingunlikelytohurtobama
RedMeatKoolAid at 01:03 PM JST - 24th June

Of course Obama's about-face on this and all the calculated lies won't matter. He is the Obamessiah.