Friday, June 20, 2008

Both Right and Left Condemn Obama for Breaking His Promise

I watched the analysis of Shields and Brooks on the Newshour this evening. I hadn’t bothered to tune in for months because I couldn’t tolerate the obvious contempt of both the esteemed liberal and conservative male pundits for a female presidential candidate. So it felt kind of gratifying to see the two regular Friday night boys on the NewsHour rake Obama over the coals for opting for money over principle in rejecting public funding in the general election.

Shields mentioned that Obama had made history by being the first candidate since Nixon to choose private fundraising to fill his coffers; Brooks called the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee a “political hack.”

Just to stay on top of things, I scanned Google News minutes ago and tracked this headline from the Guardian: “Obama tarnished by rejecting public funds for election fight.”

The Guardian's Ewen MacAskill sums up the response to Obama’s latest blockbuster decision: “Barack Obama faced widespread condemnation yesterday from both right and left for reneging on a promise on election campaign financing.

“The Democratic presidential candidate found himself in the unusual position of being attacked not only by his Republican rival, John McCain, but by papers such as the New York Times and Washington Post, thinktanks committed to election reform, and even his own supporters.”

MacAskill tells us about the ad Obama released yesterday and an article he wrote for USA Today:

“Obama aired his first general election ad yesterday across 18 states, in a demonstration of his spending power. In an article for USA Today, Obama wrote: "The decision wasn't an easy one ... but the public financing of presidential elections... is broken - and the Republican party has mastered the art of gaming this broken system."

Shields and Brooks weren’t buying Obama’s excuses in their Newshour analysis this evening, and if you read MacAskill’s article in its entirety, it doesn’t sound as if anyone else was buying them either.

2 comments:

  1. I am just surprised anybody expected him to keep this promise. I guess I see right through this guy and am surprised other's don't. Oh, well, there is more disappointment to come with this man and his "followers" should brace themselves.

    I didn't support him and will not support him in the General Election (first time not voting for Dem) and will enjoy watching him flip flop on every issue until everyone is dizzy.

    He is a puppet with no genuine ideas and lacks the ability to take a true stand on any issue.

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  2. Hi Anonymous,

    Thank you for your comment. It's going to take awhile for those of us who value wisdom, knowledge, experience, know how, compassion, etc. - the qualities we admired in Hillary - to get over this. Please keep in touch.

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