In Ohio: Obama Flip-Flops On Outside Political Spending

Change in Position Marks Second Flip Flop on Campaign Finance Issue in as Many Weeks

ARLINGTON, VA - While Barack Obama once decried outside expenditures as a "major loophole in campaign finance reform" and urged his primary opponents to do more than just "talk the talk," the Obama campaign today tacitly embraced a significant, last-minute outside expenditure effort being organized on his behalf by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW).

The UFCW intends to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in the state Ohio running pro-Obama advertising.

"The politics of hope is increasingly becoming the politics of hoping no one notices that Obama says one thing but does another," said Howard Wolfson, Communications Director for the Hillary Clinton campaign. "Obama's trying to have it both ways, decrying political loopholes two months ago and using them to his advantage now. That's hardly change you can believe in."

SEN. OBAMA ONCE BLASTED SEN. EDWARDS, SAYING 'YOU CAN'T JUST TALK THE TALK'
Sen. Obama blast John Edwards for criticizing 527s and then benefiting from their spending. "John yesterday said that he didn't believe in 527s - those are the independent groups that raise money without disclosure. Nobody knows who's giving the money or what's going on. He said, 'I don't believe in them because this is a major loophole in campaign finance reform laws, you have these outside groups helping out candidates and it is a way to get around campaign finance laws.'... So you can't say yesterday you don't believe in them and today you have three-quarters of a millions dollars being spent for you. You can't just talk the talk. The easiest thing in the world is to talk about change during election time" [New York Times, 12/22/07]

SEN. OBAMA CALLED FOR ISSUE CONSISTENCY, NOT POLITICAL CONVENIENCE
Sen. Obama: "Yesterday my understanding was that (Edwards) said he did not approve of 527s, these independent groups where there's no disclosure so you don't know who's funding them and how much is being spent... Part of what we need is some consistency when it comes to the positions we take, not just taking them when it's politically convenient." [Radio Iowa, 12/22/07]

SEN. OBAMA: OUTSIDE GROUPS HELP CANDIDATES EVADE THE LAW
Sen. Obama criticizes Edwards for using 'outside groups' as a way of 'getting around the campaign finance laws.' "You've got these outside groups that are helping out candidates and it's a way of getting around the campaign finance laws. So he said he's opposed to them - we found out today that there is an outside group spending $750,000." [MSNBC, 12/22/07]

OBAMA CAMP ONCE DECRIED "FLOOD OF MONEY" AS UNDERHANDED
Obama campaign decried 'big interests' that had poured a 'flood of Washington money' into Iowa in 'underhanded' efforts to support his rivals. "Sen. Barack Obama's campaign manager has spent the final days of the Iowa campaign railing against 'big interests' that have poured a 'flood of Washington money" into the state in 'underhanded' efforts to support his rivals. But more than three-quarters of that money has come from a pillar of the Democratic Party: labor unions." [Politico, 1/1/08]