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Analysis: Obama chose winning over his word
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-20 15:10 WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama chose winning over his word. The Democrat once made a conditional agreement to accept taxpayer money from the public financing system, and accompanying spending limits, if his Republican opponent did, too.
No more. The chance to financially swamp John McCain -- and maneuver for an enormous general election advantage -- proved too great an allure. Obama, a record-shattering fundraiser, reversed course Thursday and decided to forgo some $85 million so he could raise unlimited amounts of money and spend as much as he wants. "It's not an easy decision, and especially because I support a robust system of public financing of elections," Obama said in announcing that despite his previous commitment, he would rely only on private donations because "the public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken." And with that, the first-term Illinois senator tarnished his carefully honed image as a different kind of politician -- one who means what he says and says what he means -- while undercutting his call for "a new kind of politics." McCain, for his part, painted the issue as a character test, saying: "This election is about a lot of things. It's also about trust. It's about keeping your word." Not that the Arizona senator has much room to talk. He, too, has cast himself as a reformer who tells it like it is but his words and actions sometimes conflict with that identity. Overall, the race between Obama and McCain amounts to an authenticity contest. |
