Buying the U.S. Presidency
As the race for the U.S. Presidency continues, Barack Obama ads fill the airwaves. Little of John McCain is seen. One would believe the presidency is an uncontested political race in 2008. On top of that, on Wednesday October 29th, Obama had a 30 minute infomercial on his candidacy.
When the primary campaign began, most candidates (both Republican and Democrat) announced that should they be their party's nominee, they would accept public funding limits on their advertising budgets in the general election. From what I recall, Barack Obama was one of those candidates who agreed to accept public financing in the general election. But once the general election began, Obama opted out of the public financing intent on spending every dime he could get in donations. On the other hand, John McCain has kept his pledge to accept public financing and has found himself outspent by Obama by a wide margin. This has resulted in Obama being able to outspend and drown out the McCain campaign, something that public financing was intended to prevent. One also wonders whether or not Obama's fund raising will leave him beholden to business interests as he continues to fill his campaign coffers with millions of dollars from special interests.
If Obama isn't buying the U.S. Presidency, then he surely is coming the closest of any candidate to do so. The fact that he failed to live up to his pledge to accept public financing, has had little play in the media coverage - leaving this blogger to wonder where the media is and why this story is getting no play at all. Obama may be buying the U.S. Presidency, but it is all of the voters who will be left with and inexperienced President to depend on for the next four years.
10/30/08 ( 159 )
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