Robert Parry: Why the War on Obama

[seafan]

Parry is spot on in this analysis.


Why the War on Obama

By Robert Parry
February 26, 2008

While some cynics still view Barack Obama’s appeal for “change” as empty rhetoric, it’s starting to dawn on Washington insiders that his ability to raise vast sums of money from nearly one million mostly small donors could shake the grip that special-interest money has long held over the U.S. government.

This spreading realization that Obama’s political movement might represent a more revolutionary change than previously understood is sparking a deepening resistance among defenders of the status quo – and prompting harsher attacks on Obama.

Right now, the front line for the Washington Establishment is Hillary Clinton’s struggling presidential campaign, which has been stunned by Obama’s political skills as well as his extraordinary ability to raise money over the Internet. Obama’s grassroots donations have negated Clinton’s prodigious fundraising advantage with big donors.

Powerful lobbies – from AIPAC to representatives of military and other industries – also are recognizing the value of keeping their dominance over campaign cash from getting diluted by Obama’s deep reservoir of small donors. It’s in their direct interest to dent Obama’s momentum and demoralize his rank-and-file supporters as soon as possible.

So, neoconservatives and other ideological movements – heavily dependent on grants from the same special interests – are now joining with the Clinton campaign to tear down Obama by depicting him as unpatriotic, un-vetted, possibly a “closet Muslim.”

.....

Meanwhile, the Clinton campaign – having burned through $130 million and needing a $5 million emergency loan from the Clintons’ personal finances – has gone hat in hand to some of the special interests with a strong stake in protecting the Washington status quo.
For instance, campaign finance director Jonathan Mantz met with donors from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in a Washington hotel lobby when these pro-Israel AIPAC supporters were in town for other business, the Wall Street Journal reported on Feb. 14.

The approach made sense because these pro-Israeli lobbyists remain wary of Obama’s advocacy of high-level talks with Iran, his opposition to the Iraq War, and his skimpier record of supporting Israel when compared with Hillary Clinton or John McCain.
One former Israeli official told me that the Israeli government feels it can work with Obama, Clinton or McCain, but that the Israeli lobby in the United States is adamantly opposed to Obama, preferring Clinton because “they own her.” The ex-official said the lobby has some concern, too, with McCain because of his independent streak.

Like other powerful lobbies, AIPAC is threatened by Obama’s ability to raise large sums of money from everyday Americans, thus reducing the need of Washington politicians to hold out their tin cups to AIPAC’s legendary network of wealthy donors.

After having lost 11 consecutive contests, the Clinton campaign is now turning to what its “kitchen sink” strategy of throwing whatever it has at Obama.
Over the past few weeks, Clinton surrogates have been spreading rumors about Obama’s association with people with Arab names and contributions he has received from 1970s-era student radicals (though they’re now gray-haired, middle-class professionals). Some are packaging the attacks under the title, “The Obama Scandals.”

On Feb. 26, Internet gossip Matt Drudge reported that a Clinton staffer e-mailed a photo taken of Obama during a 2006 trip to Kenya when he was dressed in a turban and other traditional garb of a Somali Elder. That reinforced earlier rumors spread about Obama as a secret Muslim, though he has long belonged to a Christian church in Chicago.

Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe denounced the Clinton campaign for circulating the photo with the goal of “shameful offensive fear-mongering.”

.....

Obama’s argument has been that only an energized American public can elect representatives to bring about change and then the people must stay vigilant to make sure there is no backsliding.

.....

More to the immediate point, however, Obama’s success in getting out from under the special-interest financial dependency may be the most significant political development of this election cycle.

That success also helps explain the emerging war on Obama – and the rising hysteria among Establishment figures about his surging candidacy.

(Bold emphasis mine.)



(Robert Parry allows unlimited use of his articles at Consortiumnews.)

[ClassWarrior]

1. Spot on, as usual.

Thanks for posting.

NGU.

[Kikosexy2]

59. He sounds...

very anti-Clinton...I guess Bartcop is right about Robert Parry...

[Bullet1987]

2. I like Robert Parry...and agree that Obama's ability to raise

a stupid amount of money from ordinary folks SHOULD be scary for Washington insiders.

[damonm]

3. This is something I hadn't considered...

and gives me MORE reason to support Obama.

[blm]

20. Robert Parry rarely fails to deliver spot on analysis of what's really going on in DC.

In fact, I can only think of two things over the last 5 years that I even disagreed with him.

[DJ13]

4. Im glad the big money interests are concerned that they might lose their importance

Its about time the rest of us finally get a say in electing a President.

[MindMatter]

16. My new campaign slogan," Let's BUY Back America"

[MindMatter]

17. Probably worth adding that

these same interests would have done exactly the same thing to Edwards. The amount of wealth they extract from the Treasury (and through monopolistic entitlements conferred on them by the government) is staggering. Just today, the projection is out that we are looking at 20% of GDP being sucked up by the health care industry in another 10 years. This is so far beyond what any advanced nation has to pay for the same (or superior) care that it is really pushing us to the brink of bankruptcy.

[nolabels]

25. Lets stick a stake in it's heart before it can get back up

That blood sucking vampire is starting see that other people don't like it too much. What a surprise it could be to catch it when it's so vulnerable like this :D

[Hutzpa]

67. Now, that should be the idea

drive a stake through its core then burn it.

My biggest fear - COMPLACENCY, OVER CONFIDENCE

[Windy]

5. excellent points! n/t

[TwilightGardener]

6. Exactly--spot-on. Obama threatens a whole lot of groups, and that's why the

attacks are on his wife and his supporters, not just him. They're desperately trying to mock the people who like him and consider voting for him--sick and sad, but politics as usual.

[Hutzpa]

68. Accepting 'Politics as usually' is exactly

the kind of thinking the GOP wants, that should be unacceptable.

Ending the Republican thinking for us would be a start.

[HamdenRice]

7. And Obama can thank the good Doctor Dean for pointing the way!

It was Dean who proved that the internet could unite small donors to overcome the advantages of corporate and lobby funded campaigns and that's why they took him down.

But the lesson was learned, and Dean and Obama have the capacity for transforming the party.

[pageman551]

52. Very true

Dean started the online donor movement, Obama has taken it to the next level.




http://pagesblogofbloggings.blogspot.com/

[beltanefauve]

61. Good, I'm glad

someone mentioned Howard Dean!

[City Lights]

8. Thanks, seafan.

Robert Parry is top notch. :thumbsup:

[Big Blue Marble]

9. Excellent.

Parry is the first person to acknowledge this aspect of Obama's campaign. This is what I have been calling grass roots campaign finance reform.
This is the way we wrestle power away from the special interests that are controlling our government and our legislation
process. No longer will the wealthy own us. We are literally buying back our government in small dollar amounts.

I am glad to hear that the special interests are getting nervous. It means we are a movement. GoBama! Go us!

[Recursion]

21. Bingo... actual campaign finance reform will only happen...

...when we make the lobbyists irrelevant. They're not going to give up on it themselves.

[seafan]

10. This is clearly our revolution: The epic battle of The People vs Big Money stealing our government

Barack Obama is leading it.


And it will be televised.

[tridim]

11. Obama’s political movement ... is sparking a deepening resistance among defenders of the status quo

IMO this explains what happened to DU during the past month.

Kudos to all of us who didn't buy what they were selling. DU will be back!

[FrenchieCat]

12. Scary indeed........

They are shitting on themselves.

Plus it means the media has less influence. They don't like that, and are attacking him in full force today.

[The Wizard]

29. The remote control

and the realization that TV ads are bullshit have marginalized political TV ads. No one pays attention to them. The new media is the Internet, and Hillary Clinton is still playing the single wing offense.
It's a new era and there's a new dynamic. Terry McAullife can raise huge sums from a handful od corporate shysters, but that's a pittance compared to the number of people who have a stake in the Obama campaign.
One CEO has one vote and the cash supplied for TV ads doesn't have the influence it had 20 years ago.
The individual small donors also provide boots on the ground.

[unc70]

13. Most of the money is still raised from a relatively few donors

I am not disagreeing with the general premise of this thread, but I should point out that nearly 90% of Obama's funds come from only 3-4% of his donors -- just a few thousand donors. That is roughly true of other campaigns. His number of donors is somewhat inflated relatively because his campaign runs all the buttons, t-shirts, signs, and bumper stickers through the campaign itself, where most other campaigns have that done by third-party groups outside the campaign (and the reporting rules). (BTW either way is legal, just require different rules.)

I dug into this back a while after seeing the PR about "Over 90% of the donations were for less than $100." and similar. When I ran the numbers, that 90% raised relatively little of the total dollars; its symbolic value was more important. While his pattern is slightly stronger than the others, the entire Dem field of candidates were successful in this fundraising.

A bigger story than the Obama one is that Dems in down-ticket races througout the country can now raise the money they need to compete. It is easy for someone like me in NC, for example, to send $25 or $50 to a race in AZ. That is something almost none of us did before the last 4 years.

[Bread and Circus]

14. K and R. Best article of the month.

[Bread and Circus]

15. K and R. Best article of the month.

[Whisp]

18. k&r. one of the better reads in days and days. nt

[D23MIURG23]

19. This is why I didn't hesitate to move to Obama after Edwards dropped out

He isn't just promising change, he is already changing things with his ground-up tactics. This is another step toward the obsolescence of influence peddling...

[anonymous171]

22. Holy Shit!

NOW I'm scared! Obama better watch his back until he gets the presidency. I just hope they don't decide to pull a Bobby on him before he is elected...

[rucognizant]

38. Anonymous71

DON'T PUT THAT THOUGHT OUT IN WORDS! Sometimes what you wish for NOT, gets inverted!

[Cha]

23. Yeah, I wondered when their

giant sleeping asses were gonna wake.

[jackson_dem]

24. The establishment is so opposed to Obama the msm built him up for over a year

Only after he became the front-runner has he gotten the kind of coverage that Hillary and Edwards got (the few times Edwards got coverage at all...). There is no "war" on Obama. He is simply returning to Earth as the corporate msm has accomplished its mission of making him the front-runner.

[New Dawn]

26. K&R! n/t

[Demeter]

27. I Feel A Bit Sorry for Hillary--She's Been Blindsided

but then, that's what happens when you aren't paying attention.

It doesn't pay to stick one's head in the clouds of Realpolitick when one is elected to represent the "little people". We may not be very big, but there are millions of us.

[CyberPieHole]

28. Of course the photo of Obama in Somali~wear was published in National Examiner...

weeks before Drudge did. But the reality of that fact doesn't work into the anti~Hillary smear tactic. When Drudge turns on Obama (and I assure you, he will) you'll have no one to blame but yourselves.

[workinclasszero]

30. Obama is a revolutionary

He's got the lobbyists and special interests scared shitless!

Why do they mock the large crowds that go to his speeches and the 1 million plus regular americans that give him money?

They fear the people!

[russian33]

31. there's a war on Obama?

he thinks this is 'war'?? god help us in this GE

[Orrex]

32. Way to identify the essence of the issue

Rule #1 when lacking a rhetorical leg to stand on: take pot-shots at turns of phrase which are, in themselves, subordinate to the issue as a whole.



Nicely done.
:eyes:

[russian33]

47. hi! welcome to my ignore list!

enjoy your stay! :)

[stevietheman]

50. Ignoring is cowardly. n/t

n/t

[Maxdee55]

33. I don't think Obama can win

Even though it seems Obama will get the nomination, I firmly believe he cannot win the general election in November, I also believe this about Hillary Clinton. In a year when a Democrat should win in a landslide, and are running two capable candidates I believe that come November old prejudices will emerge and the American public will not vote for a black man or a woman. Of course this means a 72 year old man, with a lousy temper, and a willingness to sell his soul to the wacko right for votes will be President. This also means that if McCain wins he gets to nominate possibly two justices to the Supreme Court which will be a disaster for this nation. This election was Al Gore's time, the American people remember how he was robbed in 2000, and they now know the consequences of that theft, I also believe John Kerry who received over 50 million votes in 2004 and was probably robbed in Ohio would have won also. Regardless of the nominee Democrats must get behind him or her in full force come November, because another Republican administration will mean disaster for America.

[robbedvoter]

34. A war on Obama? Where? Who? I missed it because all the cheering

[Deep13]

35. There's no "war" on Obama.

The media is treating him with kid gloves. The party insiders have been good to him. Many unions have endorsed him. Frankly, this is akin to the Republicans bitching about the so-called liberal media.

[Seabiscuit]

49. "kid gloves"? The media has been kissing his feet, his ass, and coronating him.

... just to prove (1) it can control the outcome of our elections, and (2) the right wing can still get what it wants - a weak candidate they can beat up on during the GE.

[Deep13]

Yeah...well...yeah. Pretty much.

:(

[Pappy]

36. The war on Obama is from the Clintons, not the public

I think everyone here is well aware that Hillary has no problem throwing mud in Obama's eyes. Once Obama wins this will finally end the tyranny against the Democratic Party by the Clintons.

[xchrom]

37. barack is revolutionary?!?

:rofl:

[russian33]

48. well, i did see a bunch of Che Guevara posters in some of his offices

so maybe, maybe...

[acmavm]

39. This is the ONLY positive I see to an Obama campaign, his

deriving his support from the people, not corporate America.

[dailykoff]

40. K/R . Nice to see it in print .

Hope it's not rude to point out that Clinton has been a neocon ringer all along, for the last seven years in fact.

[workinclasszero]

41. No doubt

Obama will revolutionize the Dem party by taking control of it and sweeping all the DLC'ers out of power positions and the party itself in the future.

They are all Bush enablers, starting with Hillary.

[cooolandrew]

42. Make banners " I love Somalian Barack hussain Obama traitor to America" let's spin the spin.

[Egnever]

43. How telling

Thanks for posting that. We have a chance here to break the strangle hold of lobyists. I hope Texas and Ohio jump at it.

[yellerpup]

44. What makes Obama most appealing...

"it’s starting to dawn on Washington insiders that his ability to raise vast sums of money from nearly one million mostly small donors could shake the grip that special-interest money has long held over the U.S. government." Now, that's a change you can believe in and it looks more and more possible. Here's to hope!

Edited to add quotation marks to the quote.

[Omega3]

45. actually, now that it looks like he could win the nom. they have come down harder on him to even the

score hoping HC will win some to lengthen out the process, perhaps they could even have a few more debates for ratings? :) I really think alot of this is about ratings. Since when do we have all these loooong 1/1/2 hour debates (with commercials)? the ratings for them and in general have been good and the MSM wants to keep this up.

Btw, BO has raised about the same amount of money from special interests as HC so how will he be any different? It's true more 'common folk' are giving to him, swept up by this momentum thing, but he still has alot of special interest parties to pay off if he gets the the WH. There's no denying that.

[psychopomp]

46. I've voted in four presidential elections

and this campaign season marked the first time that I'd ever sent $$$ to a candidate.

I am happy to be part of the "revolution," if that is what it is; "special interests" be damned.

[Vinca]

51. That's a very good point - esp. when you consider only a fraction

of his supporters donate money.

[understandinglife]

53. Yes. We. Will.

[creeksneakers2]

54. Its not just Obama

The entire impact of the net has to scare the crap out of the special interests. Still, Parry offers no named sources for his assessment. I'd be surprised if Parry is wired into the inner circles.

I don't see what this has to do with Hillary Clinton.

[Steve-O]

55. "War" is a stretch, the press has coddled him until now.

Puh-leeze.

[snooper2]

56. Thanks for posting

bump, good read...

[cseper]

57. I cannot attack Obama's character

but, I don't know anything about his character. We would talk about Hillary's qualities, but you people don't listen to reason.

For comparison, hold her many years of unique experience up against his what? He's been on the scene for all of five minutes. Nobody knows anything about him really. Only what he has decided to tell us. Who knew Oprah had that much influence?

[damonm]

60. You can know about him - took me 2 minutes to find all this:

"Who knew Oprah had that much influence?"

What rock have you been under for the past 10 years? :7

Just kiddin'.

But seriously, if you're going to use all of Clinton's experience, you need to use all of Obama's as well which includes:
5 years of street-level community organizing in Chicago, working with low-income residents in Chicago's Roseland community and the Altgeld Gardens public housing development, becoming the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review in its 104-year history, and in the Senate: (from Wikipedia)

109th Congress

Obama took an active role in the Senate's drive for improved border security and immigration reform. In 2005, he co-sponsored the "Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act" introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).<59> He later added three amendments to the "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act", which passed the Senate in May 2006, but failed to gain majority support in the U.S. House of Representatives.<60> In September 2006, Obama supported a related bill, the Secure Fence Act, authorizing construction of fencing and other security improvements along the Mexico–United States border.<61> President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act into law in October 2006, calling it "an important step toward immigration reform."<62>


Senate bill sponsors Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Obama discuss the Coburn-Obama Transparency Act.<63>Partnering first with Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN), and then with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Obama successfully introduced two initiatives bearing his name. "Lugar-Obama" expands the Nunn-Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles and anti-personnel mines.<64> The "Coburn-Obama Transparency Act" provides for the web site USAspending.gov, managed by the Office of Management and Budget. The site lists all organizations receiving Federal funds from 2007 onward and provides breakdowns by the agency allocating the funds, the dollar amount given, and the purpose of the grant or contract.<65> In December 2006, President Bush signed into law the "Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act," marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor.<66>

As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In August 2005, he traveled to Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan. The trip focused on strategies to control the world's supply of conventional weapons, biological weapons, and weapons of mass destruction as a first defense against potential terrorist attacks.<67> Following meetings with U.S. military in Kuwait and Iraq in January 2006, Obama visited Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories. At a meeting with Palestinian students two weeks before Hamas won the legislative election, Obama warned that "the U.S. will never recognize winning Hamas candidates unless the group renounces its fundamental mission to eliminate Israel."<68> He left for his third official trip in August 2006, traveling to South Africa, Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Chad. In a nationally televised speech at the University of Nairobi, he spoke forcefully on the influence of ethnic rivalries and corruption in Kenya.<69> The speech touched off a public debate among rival leaders, some formally challenging Obama's remarks as unfair and improper, others defending his positions.<70>


110th Congress

Barack Obama at a roundtable on Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California, September 7, 2007In the first month of the newly Democratic-controlled 110th Congress, Obama worked with Russ Feingold (D–WI) to eliminate gifts of travel on corporate jets by lobbyists to members of Congress and require disclosure of bundled campaign contributions under the "Honest Leadership and Open Government Act", which was signed into law in September 2007.<71> He joined Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in sponsoring S. 453, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections, including fraudulent flyers and automated phone calls, as witnessed in the 2006 midterm elections.<72> Obama's energy initiatives scored pluses and minuses with environmentalists, who welcomed his sponsorship with John McCain (R-AZ) of a climate change bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds by 2050, but were skeptical of his support for a bill promoting liquefied coal production.<73> Obama also introduced the "Iraq War De-Escalation Act", a bill to cap troop levels in Iraq, begin phased redeployment, and remove all combat brigades from Iraq before April 2008.<74>

Later in 2007, Obama sponsored with Kit Bond (R-MO) an amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Act adding safeguards for personality disorder military discharges, and calling for a review by the Government Accountability Office following reports that the procedure had been used inappropriately to reduce government costs.<75> He sponsored the "Iran Sanctions Enabling Act" supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran's oil and gas industry,<76> and joined Chuck Hagel (R-NE) in introducing legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism.<77> A provision from the Obama-Hagel bill was passed by Congress in December 2007 as an amendment to the State-Foreign Operations appropriations bill.<77> Obama also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to provide one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries.<78> After passing both houses of Congress with bipartisan majorities, SCHIP was vetoed by President Bush in early October 2007, a move Obama said "shows a callousness of priorities that is offensive to the ideals we hold as Americans."<79>

[Blue State Bandit]

58. Great synopsis!

[paulk]

62. this is nonsense

to think that Parry used to be a respected journalist - now he's writing tin hat crap for the "consortium news" How far the mighty have fallen.

[9thkvius]

63. Superb article

I really, really, really like the idea of the lobbyists in Washington getting nervous about losing their political influence. Good. I hope Senator Obama scares them all. I hope WE scare them all.

[defendandprotect]

64. Is this supposed to suggest that we have no legiminate questions about Obama????

Is he suggesting that Social Security is in "crisis" --- ?

Is he going to extend Medicare to everyone --- ?

Is he inviting Republicans into his administration --- ?

Should we fail to examine any questionable relationships he has within his campaign --- ?

Is he strong enough to stand up to corporations --- ?

Is he supporting nuclear energy --- ?

[TexasObserver]

65. BINGO!! The entrenched inside the beltway thugs really are threatened by him.

[Arugula Latte]

66. Yesterday on CNN Candy Crowley was talking about

how experienced Washington types and the media (as well as the Clinton camp) are somewhat stunned and shaken by the power and depth of what Obama is tapping into. I think she used the word "subterranean," as in there were subterranean tremors that are surfacing big time.

The Beltway People have tried to tamp down the people's widespread outrage for seven years, and now they are surprised that it is coming up above ground and looks like it might bury them all.

[seafan]

69. The Tsunami/Tectonic Plate Shift. One million mostly small donors.

Obama's One Million Donors

By Brent Budowsky
February 26, 2008

Editor’s Note: Behind the scenes, Hillary Clinton's campaign has been disparaging Barack Obama's enthusiastic supporters as "cult-like" and naive, but that derision may be the sounds of a Democratic Establishment frightened by what this democratic surge really means.

As Obama closes in on one million mostly small donors, he is striking at the heart of the old order -- its dominance over political money, the ability to cut off this life blood to wayward politicians and to turn it on for compliant ones. In this guest essay, former Democratic congressional staffer Brent Budowsky discusses the revolutionary potential of the Obama campaign:


Barack Obama will soon announce that his campaign has 1 million unique donors. That night Chris Matthews will make his power number 1,000,000, which will demonstrate the power of average Americans to demand and enforce real change.
If the Democratic nomination is decided on March 4, the period from March through August will be the most democratically empowering in modern political history.

It could become a “democracy summer,” similar to the Freedom Summer and the birth of the Voting Rights Act.

The Obama gang of one million in March will grow to two million by August. It will put to bed the cynicism of those who speak of unity, idealism and participation with sarcasm, derision and negativity. It will bring honor to those who give their time, energy and money to create the true power for lasting change.

One million donors: This gives Democrats the resources to initiate the largest voter-registration project in history.

The year that began with historic turnout in state after state will end with a historic transformation of the electorate itself that will lift Democrats at all levels and inspire independents in all states.
This huge and surging donor base will put a stake in the heart of Swift Boat-style attacks. The first smear attack will be answered by the roar of millions of small donors, producing tens of millions of dollars, to bury the lie in an avalanche of truth.

.....

Barack Obama is no saint and his supporters are no cult. 2008 is about a large and growing mass of deeply patriotic Americans who are disgusted by the corruptions of recent years, and determined to realize great aspirations for the country they love, whose leaders have strayed from the values they cherish.

One person donating $20 is insignificant. Millions of Americans donating $20 together is the force that transforms history and the power that defeats the opponents of change.

.....

Huge turnout, new voters, surging interest, a million donors, a democracy summer, big money in the service of patriotic change. The past is prologue. The future is now.

The future is, indeed, now. And We The People are leading it.