#DNC2012 caught going against “we won’t take corporate donations” pledge

Via Charlotte TV station WSOC-TV:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Democratic Party vowed not to take any corporate donations for this year’s convention in Charlotte, but a special fundraising group is taking corporate dollars for the DNC.
Charlotte’s mayor is the president of the group.

The host committee website makes the claim that it does not accept monetary contributions from corporations, but a nonprofit group called New American City is raking in corporate dollars.

According to the group’s filing with the Federal Elections Commission, the group was created a year ago and listed Anthony Foxx as its president.

Its listed purpose is to welcome attendees with receptions, tours and promotional materials. The filing also states it is charged with paying the salaries of host committee employees.

With a mandate from the party that limits individual contributions and outright bans contributions from corporations, is the DNC breaking its own rules by using money from New American City that has accepted donations from Charlotte companies including Duke Energy and Wells Fargo?

The DNC denies this breaks their pledge in any way, of course, but a local political expert believes differently:

But political expert Michael Bitzer said that’s a distinction that may be lost on voters.

“You made this promise this would be the people’s convention. Now you’re taking money to support auxiliary activities. Where is the difference?” Bitzer asked.

He added that the ban on corporate funding could be a short-lived experiment.

“I think they tied one arm behind their back they really didn’t intend to. And in four years, I think we will see, very quietly, corporations giving money back to the campaigns,” he said.

I should note for the record that there is no such pledge for the RNC2012.

The issue here isn’t that the DNC is doing anything illegal but rather how, once again, the party says one thing to “the people” but behind the scenes does another. And anyone who thinks this is just a “party” thing and not something Barack Obama himself would endorse, DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH. This guy – from day one of campaigning back in 2007/2008 – promised a campaign “for and by the people” and largely persuaded,  in concert with a willing and complicit mainstream media, a majority of voters in America to put him into the White House based on that pledge.  The word games he repeatedly played with terms like “lobbyists” were also a huge  help.  But it was a lie then, as I repeatedly pointed out during the 2008 primary and general election campaign seasons.

And IT IS A LIE TODAY.

The Obama campaign is going to spend a considerable amount of time trying to hit Mitt Romney on his flip flops and double-speaking during the course of the campaign.  If Team Romney brings their A-Game to the general election  – and I pray they do – they’ll creatively hit back suggesting the Obama campaign really doesn’t want to make the focus of the campaign an issue which Obama himself is just as guilty of as Mitt Romney – or perhaps even more so.

Read more about New American City and the conflicts it presents with the “official” DNC2012 pledge at The Charlotte Business Journal, and the Wall Street Journal – which first reported on New American City late last week.