Clinton Camp Says Obama Violated DNC Rules With TV Ad Buy
Hillary Clinton campaign advisors are accusing Barack Obama's campaign of violating a Democratic National Committee pledge not to advertise in early primary states such as Florida who moved up their primary dates without the party's permission.
The Obama campaign purchased TV ad time on CNN and MSNBC, networks that obviously are telecast in Florida. According to the DNC rules, candidates are prohibited of campaigning in Florida, including buying ad time.
There is a semantic argument here, however, as the ad time isn't being specifically bought on Florida stations, it's being bought on national TV networks.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a written statement, "Both national cable networks told us it would be impossible for us to run advertising nationally that excluded only Florida. For that reason we consulted with the South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler who told us unequivocally she did not consider this to be in violation of pledge made to the early states."
Obama's campaign called South Carolina's Democratic Party since they were the ones that were directly affected by Florida's move to an earlier Jan. 29 primary.
The Clinton campaign says they "aren't ruling anything out," in terms of whether or not to abandon the pledge to compete in Florida.