• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Clinton Campaign Accuses Obama of 'Flip-Flop'

Posted on: Monday, 18 February 2008, 06:00 CST

By Susan Page

WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign hammered rival Barack Obama on Sunday for refusing to reaffirm his commitment to accept public financing in the general election, a development a top aide criticized as "a pretty big flip-flop" and an opening for Republican attack.

Clinton hasn't acknowledged that Obama is likely to be the Democratic nominee -- she says she is -- and she also hasn't promised to accept public financing herself. The issue, Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson says, is that Obama made a campaign pledge but now won't promise to keep it.

The Clinton offensive is an effort to raise questions about the Illinois senator and dent his momentum as the campaign heads into another important primary on Tuesday, this time in Wisconsin. The New York senator also has aired television ads that blast Obama for refusing to agree to a debate in the Badger State, where a RealClearPolitics.com average of three recent polls shows Obama with a lead of 4 percentage points.

Anthony Corrado, a political scientist at Colby College in Maine and an expert on money in politics, doubts that campaign-finance promises or debate schedules will resonate with many voters. "At this point, it's a process issue," he says.

The dispute has forged a rare alliance between Clinton and John McCain. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, told audiences in Wisconsin that he would honor his pledge to accept public financing as a candidate, assuming his opponent does the same.

"I expect Sen. Obama to keep his word to the American people as well," the Arizona senator said.

Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, said Sunday on CBS' Face the Nation that it was premature to discuss what the campaign would do.

"We're not backing away," Axelrod said. "What Sen. Obama said is, once the nomination is secured, we will sit down with Sen. McCain as the nominee, and we will talk this through."

Wolfson says Obama was "very explicit about this" last year. "It now appears he made a promise to the American people that he's not keeping, and that's not change you can believe in" -- a twist on Obama's campaign slogan.

Last fall, the Midwest Democracy Network, a non-partisan alliance of civic groups from five Midwestern states, released a questionnaire that asked candidates whether they would "agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign" if "your major opponents agree." Obama's response: "Yes."

He then described himself as "a longtime advocate for public financing of campaigns combined with free television and radio time as a way to reduce the influence of moneyed special interests."

Now, however, it's clear that accepting $85 million in public funding and agreeing to eschew private fundraising would mean giving up an enormous money edge. Obama's campaign, which has smashed fundraising records, raised more than $102 million last year and took in about $1 million a day in January, according to campaign manager David Plouffe. McCain raised about $41 million in 2007 and ended the year with less than $3million in the bank.

Agreeing to public financing wouldn't necessarily reduce the amount of money contributed or spent on the 2008 campaign, Corrado notes. The Democratic and Republican national committees can raise funds to spend on a candidate's behalf, although most of the expenditures must be independent of the campaign's control.

In Wisconsin on Sunday, a snowstorm forced Clinton to cancel two of her three scheduled appearances. Instead, she toured a grocery story in a Hispanic neighborhood of Milwaukee and visited Miss Katie's Diner near Marquette University.

The weather also prompted Obama to scrap a town hall meeting in Kaukauna, his only scheduled public appearance of the day.

Obama flew to Raleigh, N.C., to hold an unannounced meeting with former rival John Edwards.

The former North Carolina senator amassed 26 delegates before dropping out of the race last month. He hasn't yet made an endorsement between the remaining contenders. Clinton met with Edwards two weeks ago. (c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

More News in this Category