June 20, 200818 yr Man, Obama just can't win for losing. He has 47 million on hand today, 38 million of which is dedicated to the primary and can't be used past the convention. McCain has 21.8 million, ALL BUT 21K of which is dedicated to the primary and can't be used past the convention. There's also the fact that the RNC has a lot more on hand than the DNC. Obama isn't just an idealist if he takes public financing-- he's a fool. Don't we hear all the time what a starry-eyed, naive idealist Obama is? So he toughens up and takes advantage of a situation, and now he's too jaded to trust? Crackin' me up, kids. Fine, just don't use CHANGE as your trumpeting slogan and no harm done. He's definitely not about change.
June 20, 200818 yr I have hope that Obama will drop his pledge to raise capital gains from 15% to 28% because he believes that is fairness... I hope that Obama will drop his pledge to declare Iraq a loss and pull our troops out of Iraq... I hope that Obama will drop his pledge to take away oil companies profits and then give it to the oil companies competition, alternative energy. To make up the lost profits, oil companies will have to once again raise prices or stop producing and distributing in the US... That is my audacious hope...
June 20, 200818 yr Author If any of you were running for national office, had the money-raising capability of Obama, and had any political savvy at all, you would take back that "pledge" and keep your money advantage. You would do what you thought gave you the best chance of winning. I don't blame Obama or McCain for playing the political game in order to win. So Obama is just another politician as usual and no real change is on the horizon. He's just blowing smoke up the collective electorate's nether regions and will change his positions when it politically suits him? Not really to far off of what I have always believed about him.
June 20, 200818 yr So Obama is just another politician as usual and no real change is on the horizon. He's just blowing smoke up the collective electorate's nether regions? Not really to far off of what I have always believed about him. The Nether Regions .... I thought that was the place Al Gore said would be going up in smoke if we didn't quit ruining the ozone. Seriously, I am too real about the motives of politicians. I am not letting them blow anything up my nether region. Edited June 20, 200818 yr by the mathemagician
June 20, 200818 yr All of the above. A greater percentage of both the McCain and the RNC's money comes from larger donations, and both take more money than Obama from lobbyists and special interest... because Obama doesn't take any.You have obviously been Obamitzed! :lol: Like all national politicians, Obama takes plenty of money from special interests. If you do a little bit of detective work, you will find some large bundlers at work in Obama's camp.
June 20, 200818 yr I have no problem with Obama deciding not to accept public financing. Like Alltell, I oppose so-called campaign finance reform and believe that full public disclosure of all donations is all that should be required of candidates. However, the lame, disingenuous excuses that Obama gave for the reversal should give everybody a glimpse into his character. A different kind of candidate??? Most college kids may swallow that line without question but it is pretty apparent to anybody who pays attention that Obama is a traditional dishonest, mud slinging, scapegoating politician. As if we did not already have enough of them...
June 21, 200818 yr Obama has been vigilant in not accepting money from lobbyists who are currently registered as a Washington lobbyist. How Obama defines whose money he turns away is key to his ability to reject this money. His narrow definition of a lobbyist allows him to claim the high road while leaving very little money on the table. Taking a union as an example (I could have just as easily picked an oil company or a pharmaceutical company), Obama's definition does allow him to accept money from state-based union lobbyist because they are not located in Washington. His definition also allows him to accept money from a Washington based wealthy former union lobbyist because he is not a current lobbyist. His definition also allows him to accept money directly from a union since the union is a union and not a lobbyist even though some unions employ lawyers whose fulltime job is to lobby elected officials.
June 21, 200818 yr So, I watched the video Obama recorded, and then read the text of his video. Exactly what is everyone objecting to in this? Again, much ado about nothing. It's really getting silly, all this Obama bashing. I feel like I'm in 6th grade, and everytime Obama opens his mouth on the playground all the kids who think they're "cool" go running around mean-mouthing him and trying to start some sort of controversy out of nothing.
June 21, 200818 yr I also agree no limits on donations but full disclosure of who is donating is the best option.
June 21, 200818 yr I also agree no limits on donations but full disclosure of who is donating is the best option. Alright...I'll disclose....I donated.
June 21, 200818 yr McCain has flip-flopped himself into Flipping-Flopping Hall of Fame. I went into the IHOP yesterday and the old son-of-a-gun's picture is on the wall. Not too long ago, the 92 year-old was against the Bush tax cuts.That was before he found it politically convenient to snuggle up to conservatives. There is a long list of McCain flips and subsequent flops. It's all politics. I don't think it necessarily means the old man has character issues. Likwewise, Sen. Obama made the smart political move, even if it mean flip-flopping on his previous stand. This move provides Obama with a strategic advantage.He would have been foolish to put himself at a possible money disadvantage for the general election. Polls have indicated that this not a issue that Americans care a whole lot about right now.If you hoped to win the presidency, would you have kept a "pledge" that would have benefited your opponent and hurt your chances of winning? It was the right move; it was the only move. It's not a character-definer, just as McCain's flops don't necessarily define his character.It's just political expediency.
June 21, 200818 yr So, I watched the video Obama recorded, and then read the text of his video. Exactly what is everyone objecting to in this? Again, much ado about nothing. It's really getting silly, all this Obama bashing. I feel like I'm in 6th grade, and everytime Obama opens his mouth on the playground all the kids who think they're "cool" go running around mean-mouthing him and trying to start some sort of controversy out of nothing. It's crazy. I will explain the phenomenon in an upcoming thread. Stay tuned.
June 21, 200818 yr So, I watched the video Obama recorded, and then read the text of his video. Exactly what is everyone objecting to in this? Again, much ado about nothing. It's really getting silly, all this Obama bashing. I feel like I'm in 6th grade, and everytime Obama opens his mouth on the playground all the kids who think they're "cool" go running around mean-mouthing him and trying to start some sort of controversy out of nothing. What is really getting silly is the tendency of some people to dismiss any criticism of Obama as "bashing." How about addressing the substance of the criticism instead of dismissing it as bashing?. For example, for a candidate who takes no money from special interests, Obama's list of bundlers sounds like a Who's Who of Special Interests. What's up with that? Why does the media just repeat the claim and perpetuate the fantasy that all of Obama's contributors are small contributors sending a few bucks in between college classes? Top Contributors Goldman Sachs $571,330 University of California $437,236 UBS AG $364,806 JPMorgan Chase & Co $362,207 Citigroup Inc $358,054 National Amusements Inc $320,750 Lehman Brothers $318,647 Google Inc $309,514 Harvard University $309,025 Sidley Austin LLP $294,245 Skadden, Arps et al $270,013 Time Warner $262,677 Morgan Stanley $259,876 Jones Day $250,725 Exelon Corp $236,211 University of Chicago $218,857 Wilmerhale LLP $218,680 Latham & Watkins $218,615 Microsoft Corp $209,242 Stanford University $195,262 Here is another link to help dispel the myth that Obama does not accept any special interest money. The numbers are a bit out of date but the article demonstrates just how little merit Obama's claims that he does not accept special interest money have. Big Donors Among Obama's Grass Roots 'Bundlers' Have a Voice in Campaign Sen. Barack Obama credits his presidential campaign with creating a "parallel public financing system" built on a wave of modest donations from homemakers and high school teachers. Small givers, he said at a fundraiser this week, "will have as much access and influence over the course and direction of our campaign that has traditionally been reserved for the wealthy and the powerful." But those with wealth and power also have played a critical role in creating Obama's record-breaking fundraising machine, and their generosity has earned them a prominent voice in shaping his campaign. Seventy-nine "bundlers," five of them billionaires, have tapped their personal networks to raise at least $200,000 each. They have helped the campaign recruit more than 27,000 donors to write checks for $2,300, the maximum allowed. Donors who have given more than $200 account for about half of Obama's total haul, which stands at nearly $240 million.
June 21, 200818 yr Author Obama has held himself up to be above garden variety politicians and now he has shown that he is just liake the reast. If that's bashing then so be it. Obama has proven himself a liar and I wonder what his biggest lie will be.
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