HuffPo: "Carpenters union, and SEIU working on Edwards behalf"/CBS news: "Obama dodged the question"

[Stop Cornyn]

These related stories raise a sticky issue for Obama.

On the Huffington Post:

With a little more than 2 weeks to go before Iowa votes, there is not much more the campaigns can do to move numbers but ground game, organizing and getting their supporters worked up. This is the time 527s -- independent groups which can spend thousands of behalf of candidates but are not allowed to coordinate in any way with any campaign -- jump in and start helping their chosen candidates.

Among Democrats, the two main stories for now have been (1) how little negativity there has been in 527 ads -- a stark contrast from 4 years ago where Dean and Gephardt bashed each other through independent groups, and (2) the fact that no 527 has jumped in on Obama's behalf.

Politico's Ben Smith tallied up the totals as of Thursday night and found three groups (AFSCME, AFT and Emily's List) agitating on Clinton's behalf for a total of more than $1,8 million; and two groups (the Carpenters union, and SEIU) working on Edwards's behalf for a total of almost $1.3 million.

On CBS news:

"DES MOINES, IOWA -- Barack Obama continued to hammer John Edwards for not doing more to get an independent pro-Edwards group to stop airing TV ads on his behalf.

“My attitude is if you can’t get your former campaign manager and political director to do what you like then its going to be hard to get the insurance companies and the drug companies to do what you like. My hope that he takes this seriously,” Obama said during a campaign stop at a Des Moines diner. He was referring to Edwards and the group Alliance for a New America, which is being run by his Edwards' 2004 campaign manager.

Yesterday, however, Edwards said he was asking the group, called a 527 organization because of it's classification under the tax code, to cease airing the ads.

“I do not support 527 groups. They are part of the law, but let me be clear: I am asking this group and others not to run the ads. I would encourage all the 527s to stay out of the political process," said Edwards.

When questioned this morning if he would take a pledge not to accept help from 527s, Obama dodged the question."

Is Obama opening himself up to the awful choice of either (1) sacrificing 527 support or (2) another flip flopping charge?

[K Gardner]

1. Well, see.. this is what I was saying earlier. He should have just kept

his mouth shut and left well enough alone. He made his point. Edwards did EXACTLY what Obama "asked" him to do. Edwards is NOT afraid to run "on his own". Edwards isn't afraid of chyte, evidently :-) But when confronted with his own words, Obama couldn't make the same pledge that he insisted Edwards make? :wtf:

[Tejanocrat]

2. This makes Obama look AWFUL!

[sandnsea]

3. In the general election,

He didn't dodge anything. He very clearly said he wasn't going to make any pledges that would allow Republicans to spend millions and Democrats empty-handed.

[BeyondGeography]

4. Real complicated, isn't it?

:freak:

[cali]

5. Who got hurt most by 527s in Iowa in 2004,

Gephardt or Dean? Well, they both did. Gephardt for using them, and Dean by the content. Gephardt got hurt worse.

[Tejanocrat]

6. I think Gephardt accomplished what he intended.

[cali]

8. yeah, of course he wanted to smash Dean, but what good did it do him?

None. And it's unlikely that being closely tied to negative ads about a candidate that most perceive as Mr. Nice Guy, will help JE.

[Tejanocrat]

9. Gephardt got to chose our nominee.

[cali]

10. and? how does that pertain to this? He also damaged himself.

If Edwards damages Obama and himself, who benefits?

[Andy823]

19. Got a link

To your so called "negative" ad? The one I saw was not even close to being "negative"! Please provide some proof that there are negative ads out there by a 527 for Edwards.

[waiting for hope]

7. Good Post!

K&R!

[JackORoses]

11. Obama criticized Edwards for publicly decrying 527s at the same time as they help him

His complaint is that Edwards is being hypocritical, not that 527s should never ever be used.

He believes they have no place in the Primaries.

However, they may be of value in the GE.

"Is Obama opening himself up to the awful choice of either (1) sacrificing 527 support or (2) another flip flopping charge?"

Neither, but I'm sure the other candidates will attempt to paint him this way.
How else can they defend the 527s which they now benefit from other than to change the subject?

[indimuse]

14. let the truth be revealed...

kinda reminds me of when he called Hillary out for her vote on Iran in the debates...but conveniently DID NOT mention how he DID NOT show up for that vote...dancing on stage somewhere was more important to this UNKNOWN... PS...he had plenty of time...enough already! I was waiting for him to trip...ha! See the media wouldn't do their job when Hillary was being ATTACKTED by Obama...It took JE to bring it to the surface...anyway...This is a tactic the Obama campaign has gotten away with for too long, and am happy HE HAS BEEN EXPOSED!

[Stop Cornyn]

21. Agreed

[lisainmilo]

12. K&R

:hide:

[asdjrocky]

13. Crap:

“You know the problem with 527s is you have no disclosure and you have no campaign laws. And my sense is if we want to increase transparency and accountability in how our campaigns are run then we should have monies funneled through channels where the people know who's funding the campaigns and who's accountable for the ads.”


Man, he expects much from John Edwards, but not so much from himself. Too bad Goldman Sachs isn't a 527.

[slick8790]

15. Blech, this makes Obama look terrible.

"He was asked if he would accept support from 527s if he was the nominee but Obama did not give a definitive answer. He said he hopes to get Republicans to come up with an agreement on how to operate."

Yeah sure. The party of "Swift boat veterans for truth" is gonna come up with an agreement fair to democrats. This is a glaring example of naivete.

[Stop Cornyn]

16. I think is is risky for him; demanding that Edwards take a pledge the he won't take could backfire.

[Stop Cornyn]

17. Only a complete idiot would call Obama's hypocrisy here "smart" - this could be worse than McClurkin

[Tejanocrat]

18. 100% agreement!

[jenmito]

20. He answered that he wouldn't pledge help from 527s in the GENERAL election.

How's that hypocritical? Edwards said the same thing regarding matching funds in the general election (not to mention already flip-flopping on accepting matching funds in the primary). They may need it in the general to be competitive.