Obama's Reversal on Public Financing
June 19, 2008
So here you are. On Let's Make a Deal. You're Barack Obama. What do you do when it comes to public financing? Do you take Curtain number 1? Behind it is roughly $80 million in public financing money. Guaranteed money. Or do you take what's in the box? You're not exactly sure what's in the box but you know two things: it's more than $80 million (way more, like potentially $200-300 million) but it comes with a downside. You'll be labeled by your opponent as a hypocrite.
He took the box.
Barack Obama is ON RECORD in 2007 as supporting Public financing in a general election matchup. He's also spoken about the importance of public financing in elections. Read more about Obama's comments here.
Watch Obama's announcement against public financing here. And more on the story here.
Look, here's the deal. Financially and politically the move makes sense. You have to forgo public financing if your Obama BUT this one could really come back to bite him.
Obama is trying to come off as a different politician, someone who is authentic and ready to do things in a different matter. But this smacks of hypocrisy. Granted he's in a tough spot, but the Obama campaign just handed McCain a new issue on a silver platter.
Obama's strength is that he's NOT a Washington insider, but this move has Washington politician written all over it. This is a softball for McCain to hit out of the park.
The last thing a politician wants to do is damage his brand. There now seems to be a dent in Obama's armor going forward.
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