New Hampshire: The Real Facts

TALKING POINTS: OBAMA ON PUBLIC FINANCING

Topline Talking Points:

· 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 keep his word to the American people and Barack Obama failed that
test. He has broken his word to the American people.

· Barack Obama pledged to participate in the public financing
system and his reversal 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. His actions
undermine a public financing system enacted after Watergate.

· Unfortunately, this has become a pattern with Barack Obama –
his words don't match his record and he ends up taking multiple sides
on the same issue. He says today he would withdraw from Iraq according
to the conditions on the ground, but he previously said conditions
would not matter. He threatened to unilaterally renegotiate NAFTA but
now says that his rhetoric was overheated. He attacks John McCain for
cutting corporate taxes but then says he is open to the idea. He
criticizes the Bush-Cheney energy policy, but then says he voted for
the Bush-Cheney energy bill. He attacks the gas tax holiday, but he
voted for one in Illinois.

Obama Campaign's Claim That There Were Negotiations:

· There were no discussions about negotiations and no
rejection of negotiations. If the Obama campaign wanted to negotiate,
they never told the McCain campaign.

· The truth is that the counsels for each campaign did meet on
an entirely different subject. At that meeting, the Obama campaign did
ask about John McCain's position on public general election funding
and were informed that we were for it.

· The Obama campaign actually argued to us that neither
candidate needed public funding.

Background:

In The Fall Of 2007, Obama Answered "Yes" To Question "Will You
Participate In The Presidential Public Financing System" If His
Opponent Likewise Agreed. "The [Obama] campaign went even further in
answers to a questionnaire sent to the various political campaigns in
September 2007 by the Midwest Democracy Network. The questionnaire
posed a very simple question to the candidates: '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?' You can read Obama's response
here. The candidate highlighted the simple answer 'Yes' and elaborated
as follows: …" (Michael Dobbs, "The Obama 'Pledge,'" The Washington
Post's Fact Checker, 2/20/08)

"Mr. Obama Was The Candidate Who Proposed The [Public Financing]
Pledge In The First Place, In February 2007, A Time When He Was Not
Raising The Prodigious Sums He Is Now." (Elisabeth Bumiller,
"Skirmishing By McCain And Obama On Financing," The New York Times,
2/15/08)

· Obama Spokesman Bill Burton In March Of 2007: "If Senator
Obama is the nominee, he will aggressively pursue an agreement with
the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general
election." (Jim Kuhnhenn, "Federal Regulators Rule Candidates Can
Return Donations For General Election," The Associated Press, 3/1/07)

Barack Obama: "If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively
pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly
financed general election." (Sen. Barack Obama, "Presidential
Candidate Questionnaire," Midwest Democracy Network,
www.commoncause.org, 11/27/07)

In February 2007, Obama Co-Sponsored Sen. Feingold's Legislation
Designed To Keep Current Public Funding System Relevant. "Sen. Barack
Obama (D-Ill.) added his name to legislation overhauling the public
financing of presidential elections this week, earning him plaudits
from watchdog groups. … Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer
yesterday urged Obama's presidential rivals to follow his lead and
cosponsor this session's bill from Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). It
would raise significantly the spending cap for candidates accepting
public funds during their White House campaigns in an effort to keep
the system relevant." (Elana Schor, "Obama Co-Signs Bill To Publicly
Fund Campaigns," The Hill, 2/16/07)

Throughout 2008 -- And As Recently As June 6 -- Barack Obama Has Said
He Would Pursue An Agreement With The Republican Nominee On Public
Financing:

In June 2008, Barack Obama Tells The USA Today That He Would Pursue A
Public Financing Agreement With John McCain. "On campaign finance.
Obama said he'll accept public financing for his campaign -- which
would limit the amount of spending -- only if McCain agrees to curb
spending by the Republican National Committee. 'I won't disarm
unilaterally,' he said." (Kathy Kiely, "Obama Reaching Out To The
White Working Class," USA Today, 6/6/08)

In April 2008, Barack Obama Says "I Have Promised That I Will Sit Down
With John McCain And Talk About Can We Preserve A Public System." FOX
NEWS' CHRIS WALLACE:" Wall Street Journal says that you are prepared
to run the first privately financed campaign, presidential campaign,
since Watergate. True?" OBAMA: Well, look. We've done a wonderful job
raising money from the grassroots. I'm very proud of the fact that in
March -- in February, for example, 90 percent of our donations came
over the Internet. Our average donation is $96, and we've done an
amazing job, I think, mobilizing people to finance our campaigns in
small increments. I have promised that I will sit down with John
McCain and talk about can we preserve a public system, as long as we
are taking into account third party independent expenditures. Because
what I don't intend to do –" (Fox News' "Fox News Sunday," 4/27/08)

· Barack Obama: "I Would Be Very Interested In Pursuing Public
Financing…" "MR. WALLACE: "If you can get that agreement, you would go
for a publicly financed campaign?" OBAMA: "What I don't intend to do
is to allow huge amounts of money to be spent by the RNC, the
Republican National Committee, or by organizations like the Swift Boat
organization, and just stand there without -- (cross talk)." WALLACE:
"But if you get that agreement?" OBAMA: "I would be very interested in
pursuing public financing, because I think not every candidate is
going to be able to do what I've done in this campaign, and I think
it's important to think about future campaigns." (Fox News' "Fox News
Sunday," 4/27/08)

In February 2008, Obama Wrote Op-Ed In USA Today Stating That He Would
"Agressively Pursue" And Agreement With The Republican Nominee
Guaranteeing "A Publicly Funded General Election In 2008 With Real
Spending Limits." "In 2007, shortly after I became a candidate for
president, I asked the Federal Election Commission to clear any
regulatory obstacles to a publicly funded general election in 2008
with real spending limits. The commission did that. But this cannot
happen without the agreement of the parties' eventual nominees. As I
have said, I will aggressively pursue such an agreement if I am my
party's nominee. I do not expect that a workable, effective agreement
will be reached overnight. The campaign-finance laws are complex, and
filled with loopholes that can render meaningless any agreement that
is not solidly constructed. … I propose a meaningful agreement in good
faith that results in real spending limits. The candidates will have
to commit to discouraging cheating by their supporters; to refusing
fundraising help to outside groups; and to limiting their own parties
to legal forms of involvement. And the agreement may have to address
the amounts that Senator McCain, the presumptive nominee of his party,
will spend for the general election while the Democratic primary
contest continues. In l996, an agreement on spending limits was
reached by Sen. John Kerry and Gov. William Weld in their
Massachusetts Senate contest. They agreed to limits on overall and
personal spending and on a mechanism to account for outside spending.
The agreement did not accomplish all these candidates hoped, but they
believe that it made a substantial difference in controlling outside
groups as well as their own spending. We can have such an agreement
this year, and it could hold up. I am committed to seeking such an
agreement if that commitment is matched by Senator McCain. When the
time comes, we will talk and our commitment will be tested. I will
pass that test, and I hope that the Republican nominee passes his."
(Barack Obama, Op-Ed, "Opposing View: Both Sides Must Agree," USA
Today, 2/20/08)

In February 2008, Barack Obama Said "I Will Sit Down With John McCain"
To Address Public Financing. NBC'S TIM RUSSERT: "So you may opt out of
public financing. You may break your word." BARACK OBAMA: "What I --
what I have said is, at the point where I'm the nominee, at the point
where it's appropriate, I will sit down with John McCain and make sure
that we have a system that works for everybody." (Democratic
Presidential Debate, Cleveland, OH, 2/26/08)