Oh, go support your decrepit waffle king flip flopper. :-)
Ignoring NY Times reports, Times and Wash. Post editorials made no
mention of McCain campaign's waffling on public financing
http://mediamatters.org/items/200802170003
Editorials in the February 16 editions of The New York Times and The
Washington Post arguing that Democratic presidential candidate Sen.
Barack Obama should accept public financing in the general election if
Republican candidate Sen. John McCain does both asserted that McCain
has agreed to accept such financing if Obama does. But neither
editorial mentioned that according to a Times article, McCain advisers
said earlier that week that he would not accept public financing in
the general election.
The Times editorial reported that Obama "answered with a firm 'yes'
when asked if he would participate in public financing, should the
Republican nominee do the same." The editorial then "urge[d] Mr. Obama
to return to that position." Earlier, the editorial asserted that
"McCain is now the presumptive Republican nominee and says he is eager
to take Mr. Obama up on the idea if he beats Senator Hillary Rodham
Clinton." McCain said on March 1, 2007, that if he became the
Republican nominee, he would accept public funds, provided the
Democratic nominee did as well. However, the Times reported on
February 13 that "Mr. McCain's advisers said that the candidate,
despite his signature legislative efforts to restrict the money spent
on political campaigns, would not accept public financing and spending
limits for this year's general campaign." Moreover, in a February 15
article reporting that the "McCain campaign's latest stand on the
issue" is that it will accept public funding if McCain's Democratic
opponent does the same, the Times similarly reported: "On Tuesday, one
of Mr. McCain's advisers told The New York Times that the campaign had
decided to forgo public financing in the general election, an awkward
admission for a senator who has made campaign finance reform a central
part of his political persona."
The Washington Post editorial headlined "Mr. Obama's Waffle" asserted
that Obama was "starting to hedge" "about the campaign's earlier
position" on accepting public financing in the general election and
contrasted him with McCain, claiming: "The presumptive Republican
nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, agreed long ago to Mr. Obama's
deal, back when his prospects for securing the nomination seemed slim.
Mr. McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, reaffirmed that pledge this
week at a lunch with reporters sponsored by the Christian Science
Monitor." However, the editorial never mentioned McCain's own reported
"waffle" -- that, according to the Times, days before "reaffirm[ing]
that pledge this week," McCain advisers had said that he would opt not
to use public funds. Nor did the editorial note what the Post itself
reported on February 16: that, while McCain has declined to take
public financing for the primary elections, he had taken out a $1
million loan "by pledging to enter the public financing system if his
bid for the presidency faltered." While the Post reported that McCain
"never used the funds of the most recent loan" the article also
reported that "[u]nder the agreement, McCain promised that if his
campaign began to falter, he would commit to keeping his campaign
alive and to entering the federal financing system so the money he had
raised could be used to gain an infusion of matching funds."
From the February 16 Times editorial:
A year ago, before Barack Obama's prodigious fund-raising powers were
clocked in at $1 million a day, the senator made a great show out of
raising a good idea: He would take the narrower road of public
financing in the general election if he secured the nomination and his
opponent did the same. Senator John McCain, then a long shot, agreed.
Mr. Obama even secured a ruling from the Federal Election Commission
that he could return unused private donations and then accept public
financing.
Well, Mr. McCain is now the presumptive Republican nominee and says he
is eager to take Mr. Obama up on the idea if he beats Senator Hillary
Rodham Clinton. Sounds good? Not so fast.
Representatives of Mr. Obama are cautiously saying this plan was an
option, not a pledge, and it will not be definitively addressed unless
Mr. Obama secures the nomination. An idea floated by a contender is
now too "hypothetical" for a front-runner.
Campaign seconds will spar eagerly over what "option" and "pledge"
mean. But researchers from government watchdog groups found a
candidates' forum from last November where Senator Obama answered with
a firm "yes" when asked if he would participate in public financing,
should the Republican nominee do the same. He promised to
"aggressively pursue" this route.
We urge Mr. Obama to return to that position, and Mrs. Clinton to
follow suit. She has not made a firm commitment, even as she endorses
an updating of public financing subsidies to make it more attractive.
After the hundreds of millons in private donations being splurged on
the primaries, public financing would limit the general election
nominees to $85 million each. This seems generous enough, particularly
with the political parties and independent groups free to spend even
more.
From the February 16 Post editorial:
AS RECENTLY as November, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was unequivocal
about whether he would agree to take public financing for the general
election if his Republican opponent pledged to do the same. "If you
are nominated for president in 2008 and your major opponents agree to
forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you
participate in the presidential public financing system?" the Midwest
Democracy Network asked in a questionnaire. Mr. Obama's answer was
clear. "Yes," he wrote. "If I am the Democratic nominee, I will
aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to
preserve a publicly financed general election."
Or maybe not. Mr. Obama deserves credit for obtaining a ruling from
the Federal Election Commission that allowed him to raise money for
the general election campaign but reserve the right to return the
funds if he were to win the nomination and manage to arrange a cease-
fire with the other side. That outcome, once improbable, is now within
reach. The presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of
Arizona, agreed long ago to Mr. Obama's deal, back when his prospects
for securing the nomination seemed slim. Mr. McCain's campaign
manager, Rick Davis, reaffirmed that pledge this week at a lunch with
reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.
But Mr. Obama's campaign, which has been raking in money at an
astonishing clip of more than $30 million a month, is starting to
hedge. Speaking to the Associated Press, Mr. Obama's spokesman, Bill
Burton, downgraded the Obama plan to "something that we pursued with
the FEC and it was an option that we wanted on the table and is on the
table." Asked about the campaign's earlier position, Mr. Burton said,
"No, there is no pledge."
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Colbie_Caillat/message/1161
