A Broken Promise And Fake Donors

National Review Online: The Problems With Barack Obama's Campaign Finance Machine

(National Review Online)  This column was written by David Freddoso.

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Starting in June, Barack Obama’s website stopped asking for donations. Instead, it began asking for citizens who would “declare their independence from a broken system by supporting the first presidential election truly funded by the people.”

Perhaps the campaign did not expect that among those “declaring their independence would be donors named “Doodad Pro,” “Derty Poiiuy,” and “Jgtj Jfggjjfgj.” (And you thought Barack Obama had a funny name.) They may not have known that at least four Missourians and one Virginian would declare their independence involuntarily and later find fraudulent donations to Obama’s campaign on their credit card statements. The Obama campaign cannot claim ignorance of “Good Will,” whose address is the Goodwill headquarters in Austin, and whose occupation is “Loving You.” The Goodwill office received a letter from Obama last month indicating that Mr. Will had exceeded the legal limit with his $7,000 in contributions, and asking whether part of the money could be directed to Obama’s general election campaign.

Such abuse of the system may just be the inevitable consequence of a political system driven by massive amounts of money - or at least, that’s what Barack Obama used to say, before he figured out how to use that system to his advantage.

Reporters now note dryly that Barack Obama promised to take public matching funds for the presidential election, which would have limited the amount he could spend, and that he then reneged on his promise in June. This narrative understates the case.

Obama actually went much farther than merely giving his word that he would accept matching funds. In February of 2007, he challenged all of the Republican candidates for president to pledge, along with him, that they would take matching funds. It was supposed to be a rare display of political courage on his part, for the sake of principles he believed in.

Sen. John McCain, who has long clashed with conservatives on issues of campaign finance, accepted Obama’s challenge on Obama’s terms. Obama would later write on a November 2007 questionnaire from the Midwest Democracy Network: “If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.” In February of this year, he wrote an op-ed stating again that he would “aggressively pursue” an agreement with McCain that would set “real spending limits.” He repeated this promise on FOX News on April 27.

Then, all of the sudden, Barack Obama announced in June that the public campaign-financing system was “broken” and so he could not participate in it. Presumably, someone went and broke the public campaign-financing system sometime between April and mid-June of this year.

Who did it? Barack Obama did. He broke the system as soon as it became clear to him that by rejecting public financing, he might be able to raise half a billion dollars and drown his opponent in money, as he is doing now.

It may all seem like a minor point now - just an occasion for a bit of Republican whining as Obama’s attack ads dominate the airwaves thanks to his broken promise. After all, Obama has raised quite a bit of money. But his donations from fake donors evoke the fake promise he made on principle just months ago to restrict campaign spending and limit the influence of special interests.

News reporters often assume, incorrectly, that the numbers in the FEC reports they scour each quarter are put on the Internet by magic. In fact, each one has to be recorded individually by a human being in what is really a painstaking process. This applies not only to the larger amounts contributed by Mr. Will and Mr. Jfggjjfgj, but also to amounts less than $200. A pair of human eyes has to check each one, even if amounts smaller than $200 are not required by law to be disclosed in any report.

Obama’s finance team missed quite a few obviously troubling large donations, from such unsavory individuals as Mr. Jfggjjfgj, “Mong Kong,” “Test Person,” and “Jockim Alberton,” who lives at a fictional address on a street that does not exist in Wilmington, Delaware. How many fictional characters might there be among the $220 million that Obama has collected in small, undisclosed contributions?

Obama’s small donors have all been recorded, and he could easily follow McCain’s lead by disclosing this major source of his campaign’s money. Hopefully the list of donors contains no one with Asdfjkl as a surname, and it bears no resemblance to an ACORN voter-registration list.

[magnetrack]

As I read on another blog, "Obamie the Commie is at it again".

[debb17055]

Senator Obama agreed to DISCUSS public financing with his opponent. Well apparently that never happened. It''s not like he pulled a John McCain and said "come to my town meetings, or else". Who appointed McCain dictator of election policy?

[nojoy01]

It''''s one of the oldest tricks in the books: make a false claim about your opponent, then argue against the false claim.

Posted by IDNNSG at 07:17 AM : Oct 24, 2008

You are absolutely correct. That is one of the oldest tricks in the book & it still works better than honesty, truth, or sincerety. That is probably why Obama is doing so well

[idnnsg]

More distortions from the NRO. How "shocking"! (NOT!)

It''s one of the oldest tricks in the books: make a false claim about your opponent, then argue against the false claim.

The repugs have NOTHING. The GOP is toast.

[gogam]

Obama the set the trap and McCain fell for it. Makes Johnny boy seem kind of naive there. Sneakiness aside we know Barry will probably run the US just like any average president. No one will top Bush in the scale, breadth and audacity of "hopelessness."
I still like McCain though. He''s got that edge that makes the rest of the world hesitate. They''ll second guess him and he''ll pull out a surprise. You need that poker-face, "FU-type" uncertainty in a leader otherwise they''ll step all over you. Barry is too much of a push-over. It''s going to very interesting how he will redraw the world map according to his US foreign policy.

[McHineguy]

It isnt what you choose until you choose to unilaterally break your promises. I wonder how many more promises this guy is gonna break. Its pretty clear that he is the most slippery one to show up in America since Nixon. He lies, he cheats, he smiles. Bill Ayers is proud.

My guess is the rest of his money comes from foreign sources.

[nojoy01]

''It was well within Obama''''''''s rights to change his mind ''

Posted by rconross at 11:48 AM : Oct 23, 2008

I think you''ve just created the most popular bumper sticker for the 2012 campaign. And you said it first.

[nojoy01]

One other point, McCain did not have to choose public financing either. He made the choice to do so. I am proud this in this great country we still have the freedom to make our own choices. Just because McCain continued with his plan to accept public financing, doesn''''t mean that it''''s Obama''''s fault. Sounds like an annoying whine to someone who is going down. You make choices and you live by them. It was well within Obama''''s rights to change his mind and we are all responsible for the choices we make and the consequences that come with them. The American people will not be tricked into another 8 years of the same...

Posted by rconross at 11:48 AM : Oct 23, 2008

That''s right, old buddy. Just be sure you remember you said Obama has a ''perfect right'' to ''change his mind'' about taxes etc. after he gets into the White House.

[norepubs]

I''m starting to think that most republicans are pathological liars....
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Hey, greeneyes222, does this July piece from the BBC sound fami--liar?

[norepubs]

Wow! You need to see a shrink. Thorazine. is an excellent anti-psychotic. You need a 55 gallon drum of that stuff delivered to your door.
You need to administer it r e c t a l l y though.
That way,it will go straight to your brain.......

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Obama winning would be a celebration in the making for 200+ years. You can expect major desctruction across the United States.

"Just one more example of how Obama''''''''s "change" is really the status quo.
I had no intention of voting Republican after 8 years of W, but Obama has convinced me otherwise. This man preaches hope, but he''''''''s as dishonest as they come.
Posted by greeneyes222 at 10:14 AM : Oct 23, 2008
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Hey, greeneyes222, does this July piece from the BBC sound fami--liar?
"McCain is far from perfect, but to those of us who are a little older and a little wiser and maybe a little more world-weary, Obama isn''t wearing well over the long haul. Not because he''s black, but because charisma alone isn''t enough."

Now that sounds like a tortured soul having a hard time deciding TO support McCain.

"Reporters now note dryly that Barack Obama promised to..." was the first inkling I had this article was a fake. Reporters don''t do anything dryly. Which was obviously the operative condition that led you to expend so many rounds on so few thoughts. Did you use both sides of the cocktail napkin? You managed to cull eight (that''s right isn''t it? 8) names from a minimum of l.5 million. Is that acorn you refer to some indication of the size of your brain? Or the limit of your intelligence?

[taxguydave]

mrcrosby and dremn--I''m sure that plenty of your ilk will be rioting. Have you kept up on your Klan dues? Are your sheets and hoods all pressed and ready for the big day?

[dremn1]

Darkangel421,

Obviously you do not pay attention to what happens when a sports team wins a championship. These celebrations on countless times over the years have led to major rioting. Obama winning would be a celebration in the making for 200+ years. You can expect major desctruction across the United States.

[rhs648]

Well, it appears that the Republicans will stop at nothing to discredit Obama. It is not like Obama looks at every donation that comes in and verifies each donor, come on now, get a grip!

For a campaign to vow to be above board during this Election, McCain has done everything in the exact opposite manner, making one think that he is putting ''''Campaign first, Country second''. ----------

Posted by Martinab1

Did you read the article? It was Obama''s idea to have his opponents pledge to limit their spending to the public money available. The other candidates accepted and then Obama changed his mind. Some things are facts. Now you come along and distort the facts. It is one thing to support Obama. It is another thing to distort the facts.

[martinab1]

Well, it appears that the Republicans will stop at nothing to discredit Obama. It is not like Obama looks at every donation that comes in and verifies each donor, come on now, get a grip!

For a campaign to vow to be above board during this Election, McCain has done everything in the exact opposite manner, making one think that he is putting ''Campaign first, Country second''.

[rconross]

smurfcrusher: I''m with you on this one. Well said aout Detroit!

One other point, McCain did not have to choose public financing either. He made the choice to do so. I am proud this in this great country we still have the freedom to make our own choices. Just because McCain continued with his plan to accept public financing, doesn''t mean that it''s Obama''s fault. Sounds like an annoying whine to someone who is going down. You make choices and you live by them. It was well within Obama''s rights to change his mind and we are all responsible for the choices we make and the consequences that come with them. The American people will not be tricked into another 8 years of the same...

[smclimans]

HOPEFUL08

I guess you missed yesterday CBS headline saying that
of the 600 million Obama has raised,
LESS than one-fourth of the money has come from small donors.
The MAJORITY of Obama''s donor are from Large contributions

[greeneyes222]

Just one more example of how Obama''s "change" is really the status quo.

I had no intention of voting Republican after 8 years of W, but Obama has convinced me otherwise. This man preaches hope, but he''s as dishonest as they come.

Since the NRO is using a few isolated cases to falsely make a broader point, I will contribute my own case...$75/month to Obama/Biden for the last 8 months. The real point is that for the first time in their lives, millions of voters are contributing a small amount of their paychecks because Obama/Biden is the first ticket to represent their voices for real change.