Campbell Brown: Obama’s gotten here, in part, based on a broken promise

Hmm. I wonder how much hate email Brown has received tonight over this one?

Without question, Obama has set the bar at new height with a truly staggering sum of cash. And that is why as we approach this November, it is worth reminding ourselves what Barack Obama said last November.

One year ago, he made a promise. He pledged to accept public financing and to work with the Republican nominee to ensure that they both operated within those limits.

Then it became clear to Sen. Obama and his campaign that he was going to be able to raise on his own far more cash than he would get with public financing. So Obama went back on his word.

He broke his promise and he explained it by arguing that the system is broken and that Republicans know how to work the system to their advantage. He argued he would need all that cash to fight the ruthless attacks of 527s, those independent groups like the Swift Boat Veterans. It’s funny though, those attacks never really materialized.

The Washington Post pointed out recently that the bad economy has meant a cash shortage among the 527s and that this election year they have been far less influential.

The courageous among Obama’s own supporters concede this decision was really made for one reason, simply because it was to Obama’s financial advantage.

On this issue today, former Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, an Obama supporter, writes in The New York Post, “a hypocrite is a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue — who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings. And that, it seems to me, is what we are doing now.”

Here’s Kerrey’s op/ed in full.

Some liberals who read this may think I’m bringing it up simply because they believe I’m “jealous” of how much money Obama has raised. But it’s really not an issue of jealousy (and we’ll just ignore for the moment some of the questionable ways he’s raising that money). It’s more about being consistent with your word – and as we’ve seen time and time again throughout this campaign, Barack Obama, the candidate who has claimed to be a “different” kind of candidate, has essentially run one of the most dishonest campaigns in modern history, and the issue of public funding for campaigns is just one example of many. While it’s true that every politico has been dishonest more than once, Obama has taken it to absurd heights.

Probably the two most glaring examples of Obama’s dishonesty are how not only he has portrayed himself as someone he’s not (for example: He’s not beholden to lobbyists and special interests? Ha!) but he’s portrayed McCain as another Bush, and any conservative who has had to grit their teeth over McCain’s “maverick moves” over the years knows he’s hardly a Bush stooge.

And the repeated use of the race card from both him, his campaign, and his campaign’s surrogates … well, that’s the far cry from the “racial healer” Obama has implied he will be. Can’t bridge those racial divides if you’re too busy widening them.

I don’t know. It’s late, I’m tired and I’m rambling. I just can’t believe we’re one week away from the election. Will McCain’s divided government argument win? Or will Obama and his party essentially be rewarded with 4 years of total domination in DC? Will common sense prevail? Or will Obama’s celebrity status rule the day?

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