Why I Can’t Believe Politicians

I’m sure most of you have, by now, seen this bit of campaign advertising released by those moderate democrats at MoveOn, with a little funding by that other nonpartisan organization, the AFSCME, yes, THAT union.

Here it it:

Although I, again like most of you, have become somewhat desensitized by this kind of distortion and vitriol, it still reminds me that in politics, all is fair in war (Shame some of our more liberal populace doesn’t extend that bromide to, you know, real war).

So, with great interest, I saw this headline in today’s New York Times……an excerpt:

Senator Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he would not participate in the public financing system for presidential campaigns. He argued that the system had collapsed, and would put him at a disadvantage running against Senator John McCain, his likely Republican opponent….

With his decision, Mr. Obama became the first candidate of a major party to decline public financing — and the spending limits that go with it — since the system was created in 1976, after the Watergate scandals.

“The public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken, and we face opponents who’ve become masters at gaming this broken system,” he said. “John McCain’s campaign and the Republican National Committee are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs. And we’ve already seen that he’s not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations.”

Via the Weekly Standard, here is Obama breaking the news:

Dean Barnett goes on to say:

Now courtesy of the wayback machine, here’s Obama’s position on the same matter just four short months ago. Jim Geraghty calls our attention to the February 16 Washington Post:

AS RECENTLY as November, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was unequivocal about whether he would agree to take public financing for the general election if his Republican opponent pledged to do the same. “If you are nominated for president in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?” the Midwest Democracy Network asked in a questionnaire. Mr. Obama’s answer was clear. “Yes,” he wrote. “If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.”

Of course, John McCain is taking public financing.

So here’s the question worth pondering: Given that as of February 16 Obama looked to have an enormous fundraising advantage over any potential rival, was his agreement to take public financing ill-advised or, you know, a lie? Personally, I opt for the former. Taking strong positions without understanding their implications has become something of an Obama signature. Recall the fierceness with which he clung to his promise to conduct face-to-face diplomacy with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without “preconditions.” He later abandoned this promise when he discovered the magic of “preparations” and the loads of differences between “preparations” and “preconditions.”

Sounds like his side is already spending millions of dollars of special interest money to attack a candidate.