The Other McCain

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Fund-Raising E-Mail: Obama Campaign ‘Refused to Take Money From D.C. Lobbyists and Corporate Special Interests’

Posted on | September 29, 2011 | 5 Comments

In the wake of the Solyndra scandal, it might seem bizarre that President Obama’s re-election campaign would claim to be free from “special interests,” but that’s exactly what the campaign’s finance director said in a message sent today to the Organizing for America (OFA) e-mail list:

Robert —
I’m the national finance director here at OFA.
I know we’ve been sending you a lot of email lately. That’s because we’re staring down a critical fundraising deadline tomorrow at midnight.
You know what that means for your inbox, but let me give you a sense of what that looks like around here.
The staff and I are working around the clock, powered by too much coffee. It’s been way too long since we called our moms. And we’ve all had more pizza and bad takeout in the past few weeks than anyone should have in a year.
No one’s complaining; that’s what we signed up for. And we’re not doing this just because it’s our job to make sure the campaign has the resources it needs. We’re doing this because it’s part of what defines this movement.
From the beginning, we’ve refused to take money from D.C. lobbyists and corporate special interests. Our operation is fueled by people inspiring each other to take ownership of this campaign.
That’s why we’ve been emailing this week, and that’s why I’m obligated to remind you once more that the deadline is coming up in a matter of hours.
If you’re able to, will you chip in just $3 today?
For all of us here at HQ, and all of the staff and volunteers across the country counting on these resources, I really appreciate your help.

Rufus

Rufus Gifford
National Finance Director
Obama for America

Let’s stipulate that the reason Gifford and other top OFA staffer are “doing this” has a lot less to do with “defining the movement” than it does with justifying their six-figure salaries. And let’s further stipulate that the reason they’re having such a hard time — bombarding their list with a series of increasingly desperate pleas for cash — is that the Democratic Party base is hopelessly demoralized. And this demoralization has a direct effect on Obama’s fundraising:

They were once among President Obama’s most loyal supporters and a potent symbol of his political brand: voters of moderate means who dug deep for the candidate and his message of hope and change, sending him $10 or $25 or $50 every few weeks or months.
But in recent months, the frustration and disillusionment that have dragged down Mr. Obama’s approval ratings have crept into the ranks of his vaunted small-donor army, underscoring the challenges he faces as he seeks to rekindle grass-roots enthusiasm for his re-election bid. . . .
“When I was pro-Obama in 2008, I was thinking of him as a leader who could face the challenges that we were tackling,” said Adnan Alasadi . . . Mr. Alasadi contributed repeatedly to Mr. Obama during his first campaign but says he will not give the president — or anyone else — any more money.
“Now I am seeing him as just an opportunistic politician,” Mr. Alasadi said.

Some of us never saw him as anything else. But what about that claim that Obama doesn’t take money from “special interests”? Let’s consult the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics:

President Barack Obama has relied more on well-connected Wall Street figures to fund his re-election than he did four years ago when he campaigned as an outsider and an underdog.
One-third of the money Obama’s elite fund-raising corps has raised on behalf of his re-election has come from the financial sector, according to a new Center for Responsive Politics analysis.
Individuals who work in the finance, insurance and real estate sector are responsible for raising at least $11.8 million for Obama’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, according to the Center’s research. All of Obama’s bundlers have raised a minimum of $34.95 million, as OpenSecrets Blog previously reported.

Read the whole thing. It’s gotta be hard to fire up the liberal base with class-warfare rhetoric demonizing the “rich” when you’re collecting tens of millions from Wall Street special interests.

And small wonder the people who signed up for Hope and Change in 2008 won’t give you a dime now, no matter how often you e-mail them, or what outrageous lies you tell them.

UPDATE: A couple of related headlines:

More solar companies led by Democratic
donors received federal loan guarantees

— — —

Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law is given
$737m of taxpayers’ money to build giant
solar power plant in middle of the desert

See, there’s Rufus Gifford’s problem in a nutshell: The small fry on the OFA e-mail list — who gave $20 or $50 or $100 to Obama four years ago — didn’t get any $737-million federal loans.

Even Democrats aren’t so stupid that they can’t understand what “green jobs” means:  They get the green, you lose your jobs.

Category: Barack Obama, Democrats, Election 2012

Comments

5 Responses to “Fund-Raising E-Mail: Obama Campaign ‘Refused to Take Money From D.C. Lobbyists and Corporate Special Interests’”

  1. Joe
    September 29th, 2011 @ 9:57 pm

    Even Democrats aren’t so stupid that they can’t understand what “green jobs” means:  They get the green, you lose your jobs.

    Bravo. 

  2. Joe
    September 29th, 2011 @ 10:13 pm

    Of topic but related insantity:  Garofalo on how supporting Herman Cain shows Republicans are raaaaacist.

    This meshes well with the Libtard theory that Palin is either a raaaaacist or has a chronic case of jungle fever. 

  3. ECM
    September 29th, 2011 @ 11:00 pm

    “Now I am seeing him as just an opportunistic politician,” Mr. Alasadi said.

    What turns my bowels to ice isn’t that this person has a problem w/ Obama basically destroying the economy, etc., it’s that he didn’t do *more* damage. And there are  millions upon millions that ‘think’ just like this…

  4. Here’s the Understatement of the Year | The Lonely Conservative
    September 29th, 2011 @ 11:30 pm

    […] current administration and the president hasn’t gone “soft” on in fundraising. They’re all over that.Image creditgoogle_ad_client = "pub-1395656889568144"; /* 300×250, created 8/11/08 */ […]

  5. McGehee
    September 30th, 2011 @ 1:27 pm

    From the beginning, we’ve refused to take money from D.C. lobbyists and corporate special interests.

    Even loads of crap think this load of crap is a load of crap.