McCain Campaign: Obama's Opting Out Of Public Financing Shows He's "Typical Politician"
The battle has begun over Barack Obama's decision today to take a pass on public financing, with the McCain camp slamming Obama as a "typical politican" who broke an earlier pledge not to do this...
"Today, Barack Obama has revealed himself to be just another typical politician who will do and say whatever is most expedient for Barack Obama."The true test of a candidate for President is whether he will stand on principle and keep his word to the American people. Barack Obama has failed that test today, and his reversal of his promise to participate in the public finance system undermines his call for a new type of politics.
"Barack Obama is now the first presidential candidate since Watergate to run a campaign entirely on private funds. This decision will have far-reaching and extraordinary consequences that will weaken and undermine the public financing system."
More on this in a bit.
Late Update: The Obama campaign is blaming the McCain campaign for its decision, saying that Obama advisers met privately with McCain advisers, who were not interested in reaching an agreement. Full statement from Obama spokesperson Bill Burton after the jump.
In the past couple of weeks, our campaign counsels met and it was immediately clear that McCain's campaign had no interest in the possibility of an agreement. When asked about the RNC's months of raising and spending for the general election, McCain's campaign could only offer its expectation that the Obama campaign would probably, sooner or later, catch up. And shortly thereafter, Senator McCain signaled to the 527s that they were free to run wild, without objection.
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