Obama's Flip-Flops on Money in Politics: A Brief History
by Justin Elliott ProPublica, Jan. 30, 2013, 3 p.m.

When President Obama told supporters that he would morph his campaign into a new nonprofit that would accept unlimited corporate donations, the announcement set off a familiar round of griping from campaign finance reformers.

The creation this month of Organizing for Action, which will promote the president's second-term agenda, appears to be the fourth reversal by Obama on major money-in-politics issues since 2008.

"No big bank or corporation will donate million-dollar checks to OFA without the expectation that it will impact which issues they engage on, and that's very troubling," said Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

The Washington Post noted that in reorganizing his campaign as a tax-exempt social welfare group, the president is embracing a structure that has been criticized for allowing anonymous money into politics.

Conservatives who've been attacked by the Obama camp for their reliance on such "dark money" groups called out the president's "brazen hypocrisy." Neither the White House nor Organizing for America responded to requests for comment.

Here's a brief history of Obama's other shifts on money-in-politics issues going back to 2008:

Public financing
In November 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama pledged to take part in the presidential public financing system for the general election, calling himself "a longtime advocate for public financing of campaigns." Under the system, created in the wake of Watergate, a candidate receives taxpayer money ($84 million in 2008) and cannot accept most private donations or spend beyond the amount of the government grant.

Less than a year later, in June 2008, Obama reversed himself and announced he was opting out of the system. He maintained he still supported the system in principle but said it should be reformed.

Obama became the first candidate to decline general election public financing since the creation of the system and went on to raise a then-record $745 million for the cycle. He outspent John McCain, who did accept public money, by four-to-one. Obama's 2008 decision generally takes at least some of the blame from campaign finance observers for killing the system.

Neither Obama nor Mitt Romney accepted public financing in the 2012 race. The Obama campaign raised $782 million for the cycle.

Super PACs
When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 2010 Citizens United decision, opening the way for the creation of super PACs financed with unlimited corporate or individual money, Obama became the ruling's biggest critic.

"Last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests u2014 including foreign corporations u2014 to spend without limit in our elections," Obama said in his State of the Union address a few days after the decision. "I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities."

That criticism turned into a pledge not to use the new funding vehicles. In July 2011, Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told the Washington Post: "Neither the president nor his campaign staff or aides will fundraise for super PACs. Our campaign will continue to lead the way when it comes to transparency and reform."

Seven months later, the campaign reversed itself and embraced a super PAC founded by former White House aides called Priorities USA Action. "[O]ur campaign has to face the reality of the law as it currently stands," wrote campaign manager Jim Messina in a blog post.

With the blessing of the campaign, top Obama aides, such as then-Chief of Staff Jack Lew and confidantes like Rahm Emanuel, were dispatched to solicit super PAC donations from Democratic millionaires and billionaires. Priorities USA ultimately spent more than $60 million to help re-elect the president.



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