So Barack Obama raised record amounts of money in the campaign just concluded.
The story always was that lots of it came from "small donors."
Was that really true???
As the NY Times reports today, the answer is--nope.
Something tells me there will be lots of myths to explode in the next four years...
Showing posts with label Barack Obama; campaign finance; election 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barack Obama; campaign finance; election 2008. Show all posts
Monday, November 24, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Big donors to Obama get big access
...to Obama's advisers, that is--details on today's Politico.
"Change we can believe in"? More like business as usual.
And remember, this is the kind of thing Bill and Hillary Clinton did--they were masters at using this kind of fund-raising technique--only they gave donors direct access to Bill, to Al Gore, to the Lincoln Bedroom, etc.
Yes, Obama had to defeat the Clintons in order to get where he is right now.
But that doesn't mean he's rejected everything about them. Seems to me he's copying several of their methods and procedures. Be afraid.
"Change we can believe in"? More like business as usual.
And remember, this is the kind of thing Bill and Hillary Clinton did--they were masters at using this kind of fund-raising technique--only they gave donors direct access to Bill, to Al Gore, to the Lincoln Bedroom, etc.
Yes, Obama had to defeat the Clintons in order to get where he is right now.
But that doesn't mean he's rejected everything about them. Seems to me he's copying several of their methods and procedures. Be afraid.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Barack Obama and campaign finance
Take note of this story today--and remember the context: Barack Obama claims to be in favor of campaign finance reform. Indeed, in 2007 he said he'd go with public financing of his campaign. But he reneged on that. And now look what his campaign is doing:
"In an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far. But records show that one-third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more: a total of $112 million, more than Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries, raised in contributions of that size. Behind those larger donations is a phalanx of more than 500 Obama “bundlers,” fund-raisers who have each collected contributions totaling $50,000 or more. Many of the bundlers come from industries with critical interests in Washington. Nearly three dozen of the bundlers have raised more than $500,000 each, including more than a half-dozen who have passed the $1 million mark and one or two who have exceeded $2 million, according to interviews with fund-raisers."
So what do Obama's big fund-raisers say about this? Are they glad about the access they may have bought? From the article:
"His fund-raisers invariably say their support for him is not rooted in any kind of promise of access, but rather their belief in him. “This is about Barack Obama and changing the direction of our country,” said Jonathan B. Perdue, a business consultant in Mill Valley, Calif., who has raised more than $250,000 for Mr. Obama’s campaign."
Hah! That's hilarious. Why? Because that's exactly what corporation heads and other big money men say when it comes to their donations...to ANY political candidate or cause. And what do Obama folks say about that? They laugh. They claim such statements aren't to be believed.
But I imagine they'd claim such statements from their own donors ARE to be believed.
Fundamental: call them on this obvious inconsistency and departure from principle.
"In an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far. But records show that one-third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more: a total of $112 million, more than Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries, raised in contributions of that size. Behind those larger donations is a phalanx of more than 500 Obama “bundlers,” fund-raisers who have each collected contributions totaling $50,000 or more. Many of the bundlers come from industries with critical interests in Washington. Nearly three dozen of the bundlers have raised more than $500,000 each, including more than a half-dozen who have passed the $1 million mark and one or two who have exceeded $2 million, according to interviews with fund-raisers."
So what do Obama's big fund-raisers say about this? Are they glad about the access they may have bought? From the article:
"His fund-raisers invariably say their support for him is not rooted in any kind of promise of access, but rather their belief in him. “This is about Barack Obama and changing the direction of our country,” said Jonathan B. Perdue, a business consultant in Mill Valley, Calif., who has raised more than $250,000 for Mr. Obama’s campaign."
Hah! That's hilarious. Why? Because that's exactly what corporation heads and other big money men say when it comes to their donations...to ANY political candidate or cause. And what do Obama folks say about that? They laugh. They claim such statements aren't to be believed.
But I imagine they'd claim such statements from their own donors ARE to be believed.
Fundamental: call them on this obvious inconsistency and departure from principle.
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