Actually, a sort of non-story if you ask me. Since Obama opted out of public financing for the general election (as opposed to John McCain who opted in to public financing when his finances were in disarray, then opted out when his finances improved, and is subsequently being investigated by the FEC for this apparently illegal act), Obama has to raise money from somewhere. Obama wants to win the election, not conduct a Nader-esque run solely on principles and garner zero electoral votes.
– A fund-raiser for Barack Obama here this week drew some of the cream of the entertainment industry, including recording artist Seal. He serenaded the crowd under crystal chandeliers at a downtown arts center just before the Democratic presidential contender took the stage.
But the headline of the evening was whispered by a campaign operative in the back of the room: The event raised more than $4 million from 700 guests who paid between $2,300 and $28,000 each to attend.
Sen. Obama’s disclosure last week that he will forgo public campaign financing — and the spending limits that go with it — appears to be turning his campaign from a reliance on small donors to a well-worn political fund-raising path: the quest for soft money.
This wasn’t the crowd of small donors that the Obama campaign often mentions to show the breadth of its common-man support. Instead, it was a crowd of big-money donors, many well-versed in federal campaign-finance laws that allowed them to give Sen. Obama more than 10 times the amount of money they normally are allowed to give a candidate.
Like his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Obama has established a joint fund-raising committee with his national party. Such a committee allows him to co-sponsor fund-raising events in which donors can give as much as $28,000 — the limit they are allowed to give a national party — coupled with the standard $2,300 anyone can give an individual candidate running for federal office during a single campaign season.
The Los Angeles event Tuesday illustrated the twin perils Sen. Obama faces by opting to forgo $84.5 million in taxpayer money.
While he is exempt from the $1.2 million daily spending limit under campaign-finance laws, he must work for the money he raises, taking time away from the campaign trail. Sen. Obama also could open himself up to charges that he is beholden to big-money people and standard Washington interests.
Notice the subtle phrasing: “could open himself up to charges.” Who exactly is making these charges, other than Chris Cooper of the Wall Street Journal? The implication being Democrats won’t vote for Obama because of how his campaign is funded. I call bullshit. Again, Obama wants to win the presidential election, not run a holier-than-thou campaign eschewing the tools that would help ensure victory in some misguided attempt at purity. Also, how exactly is John McCain collecting his dollars? Holding a tin cup on K Street?