Brilliant.
His campaign rolled out a video statement that said the public financing system was broken in this country because inevitably, 527's (special interest PACs) are able to run unlimited ads against him without impunity.
This is true. And regardless of your stance on public financing of elections, this is an amazing political maneuver with the perfect spin. Reject the system because it's inefficient and let the internet rake in the cash.
Now that his campaign warchest is unrestricted by federal guidelines, he doesn't need to be as cautious or strategic as his Republican rival. Consider the states where he recently bought ad time:
Imagine that... Democrats are playing in Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, Georgia, Indiana and North Carolina!Is this some crazy jedi mind trick or is a serious challange to McCain's campaign? The Obama campaign is dispatching staff to these traditionally Republican states with really cheap media markets. The prospect of Democrats running the table seems unlikely to me, but I'm encouraged by a couple extremely interesting polls out this week. In Alaska, Obama trails McCain by 4 points according to Rasmussen, 45-41 (Jun 16), and in Georgia, Obama is within 1 point according to Insider Advantage, 43-44 (Jun 18).
The sky is the limit. The Obama campaign will use its internet steamengine to run the table on the cash-strapped Republicans. The political atmosphere in the US is such that perhaps it's a bargin for Democrats to advertise during national primetime television. According to Advertising Age: "[The Obama campaign] has asked NBC Universal about Olympics advertising including $500,000, $2 million and $4 million packages of ads." Extremely expensive yes, but high exposure in a diverse media market where conditions are hostile to Republicans.
5 comments:
If by brilliant you mean corrupt
Liberal 527s outspent the hell out of conservative 527s in the primaries and will in the general election. Obama was worried because the DNC wasn't raising money and the murkiness of not reporting to the feds will allow him to renege on his promise to not take lobbyist money.
Stop and think about the message you just posted about this money making your viable in some Red State - you are not viable there without money - voters do not like your message. Your plan is not to appeal to what these voters want/need it is to buy up as much air time as possible with dirty money - if that is "change", I'm fine staying the same.
eh, they all take money from special interest PACs. but realize that over 1 million people have donated to the Obama campaign. never before has there been a fund raising tool like the internet, and the Obama campaign has certainly mastered its use. if the tables were turned, and McCain had the fund raising power of the Obama campaign, he too would have pulled this.
but what makes this move legitimate in my mind is that it maintains his accountability to the people. as Biden was arguing this morning on Meet the Press, the purpose of campaign finance reform was to ensure to special interests weren't pouring money into campaigns. but if the public, through millions of small donations, is investing in a campaign, Obama doesn't have to be a slave to the interests.
PS: I would've never imagined the Republican party to be such an ardent supporter of public campaign finance as they have been this past week.
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