McCain Accuses Obama of Flip-Flopping on Public Financing
(CBS)
From CBS News’ John Bentley:
MINNEAPOLIS – John McCain had harsh words today for his Democratic rival’s decision to opt out of public financing. “A little over a year ago, there was a questionnaire sent out to me and to Sen. Obama that said, 'If your opponent will take public financing, will you?' and I said, 'Of course.' And he signed his name to a piece of paper that said if the Republican nominee takes public financing, then he would, too. Well--and he signed his name to it,” McCain told a group of fundraisers here today. “His status has changed from what was clearly not a frontrunner status to one that now has the ability to raise a lot of money. He has reversed his position on that. He has reversed his position on a number of issues.”
McCain’s campaign claims that Obama said he would take public financing, but went back on that pledge because he can raise more money than the $84 million limit prescribed by public financing laws. On his website, Obama said that he would be at a competitive disadvantage if he chose to accept public financing. “The public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken, and we face opponents who’ve become masters at gaming this broken system,” Obama said. “John McCain’s campaign and the Republican National Committee are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs. And we’ve already seen that he’s not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations.”
Obama’s decision will undoubtedly give him an advantage in fundraising for the general election. He has raised $250 million through the end of April, out-raising McCain by more than 3 to 1. The Republican candidate said that he would accept public financing for his campaign.
The secrets of tennis legend 
After enduring 8 years of Cheney/Bush we''ll face 4 years of this phony, unqualified Muslin.
I say 4 years because by then many of idiots that voted for him will realise their mistake.
It this point in time, it just makes cents%u2026
Looks worse every week.
Get McCain to stop accepting lobbyist money and employing lobbyist.
"Could McCain Have Come Up with a More Ill-Suited Economic Advisor Than Phil Gramm?" is one of many examples for the damage caused by lobbyist specifically gas prices and the subprime housing damage.
http://www.alternet.org/election08/87999/?cID=936047#c936047
correcting typo
The only creepy thing I can see in the candidates is imagining an old president with Alzheimer''s waterboarding of prisoners.
Be specific or admit you are just acting out your rascism.
the only creepy thing I can see in the candidates is imaging a president with Alzheimer''s doing waterboarding of prisoners.
Be specific or admit you are just acting out your rascism.
McCain voted against the new GI Bill. Of course that bill would have paid college for the vets returning from Iraq and made available low interest mortgages, so it makes sense for a veteran like McCain to oppose it. I know, I know, he had to vote against it, because his puppet master Bush is afraid the boys wont re-up if they are offered a fair GI BILL.
Our vet in action. Also supports torture of prisoners, a real claim to fame for a veteran.
Creepy, in a weird way, to imagine McCain at the controls of the waterboard, with witches on the waterboard.
When is your candidate going to get tested for Alzheimer''s?
Your candidate wants to keep troops in Iraq in permament bases, but the Iraqi''s rejected his entire plan. Now what?
Obama is not hiding anything. If you can actually read, go to the website and you can read what he stands for at length.
Going forward, we know from experience that covering a presidential campaign requires that some representatives of the press corps be with, or near, the Senator at all times as part of the "security package," just as the White House press corps is with the president.
There may be times when the Senator needs to address the press corps about unexpected and dramatic news events, and there may be times when history demands the press corps be in close proximity to the Senator.
This is standard
operating procedure for the President of the United States, a job to which he aspires, and for presumptive nominees.
We hope to work closely with you on these and other coverage issues throughout the campaign.
ABC News Robin Sproul
AP Ron Fournier
CBS News Chris Isham
CNN David Bohrman
Fox News Brian Wilson
Each of our organizations is reviewing whether we will reimburse the campaign for last night''''''''s flight.
The decision to mislead reporters is a troubling one.
We hope this does not presage a relationship with the Obama campaign that is not based on a mutual respect for the truth. Our joint mission is to cover the candidate on behalf of our millions of worldwide viewers and readers.
Those individuals expect truthful and fair coverage from us. Your campaign expects nothing short of that from us as well. Surely we should expect the same from you.
To: David Plouffe and Robert Gibbs
There are many ways in a campaign to control your message and conduct private meetings that do not involve deceiving the press corps.
Last night, the press corps traveling with Senator Obama was misled, and was also flown to Chicago without the Senator.
The Washington bureau chiefs of ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, NBC News, and the Associated Press strongly protest the events of last night.
To review, the press corps was told the Senator would be in the motorcade from Bristol to the airport. He was not.
Then, the press corps was told the Senator would actually join them at the airport. He did not. When pressed repeatedly, Robert Gibbs and other press aides insisted the Senator was on his way to the airport. He was not.
When the campaign plane took off without the candidate, there were loud protests from the press corps because we were not given the option of staying in Washington. We do not commit to fly on charters to fly with press aides; we make that commitment to fly with the candidate.
Politico Ben Smith June 19 2008 reports the following:
News organizations complain about access to Obama
The Times mentioned today a letter from Washington bureau chiefs of six leading news organizations to the Obama campaign, complaining about access and about being deceived by campaign aides.
I''''''''ve obtained a copy of the letter, whose signatories include AP''''''''s Ron Fournier and the late Tim Russert of NBC.
It was sent June 6, after Obama flew his press corps to Chicago and stayed behind to meet Clinton. The news organizations threaten in the letter to withhold payment for the flight.
More broadly, the organizations complain that Obama offers less access to the press even than President Bush, keeping even a single pool reporter out of his security bubble. He also answers relatively few questions, and his agreement to admit reporters to fundraisers remains partial: Last night, the pool reporter, the Washington Post''''''''s Anne Kornblut, reported that she was confined to a Kennedy poolhouse while Obama talked to donors.
- by guysdigdirt June 19, 2008 10:01 PM EDT
- Changing one''s mind I can understand and cannot fault a person for. Flip flopping for other reasons is not changing one''s mind. I cannot say what this situation is, i do not know.
- Reply to this comment
See all 19 CommentsI do wish someone would tell me what Obama stands for and what he is hiding.