Is Obama "Embracing" Super PACs?
to take or receive gladly or eagerly; accept willingly: to embrace an idea.
That seems to be the word the GOP is using to describe President Obama's decision to accept Super PAC funds. Here are some examples:
Videos of Obama condemning Super PACs…which he now embraces (PJ Tatler)
Obama Embraces Citizens United: “Special Interest” Money to Bankroll Campaign (Verum Serum)
Obama embraces the super PAC (Politico)
But is Obama really "embracing" the super PACs, or is he rather trying to level the playing field? Here's what Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager, writes about the decision:
The President opposed the Citizens United decision. He understood that with the dramatic growth in opportunities to raise and spend unlimited special-interest money, we would see new strategies to hide it from public view. He continues to support a law to force full disclosure of all funding intended to influence our elections, a reform that was blocked in 2010 by a unanimous Republican filibuster in the U.S. Senate. And the President favors action—by constitutional amendment, if necessary—to place reasonable limits on all such spending.
But this cycle, our campaign has to face the reality of the law as it currently stands.
Over the last few months, Super PACs affiliated with Republican presidential candidates have spent more than $40 million on television and radio, almost all of it for negative ads.
