The New York Times reports that Barack Obama might
back away from indications he gave last year that he would agree to accept public financing in the general election if the Republican nominee did the same. The hesitation has given Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee whose advisers concede he would most likely fall far short of Mr. Obama’s fund-raising for the general election, fodder for a series of attacks.
“This type of backpedaling and waffling isn’t what inspired millions of people to invest in Senator Obama’s candidacy,” said Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain.
Notice something there? Oh yes: while the story reports McCain’s accusations, it never once mentions that John McCain essentially perpetrated a fraud on the taxpayers. As Mark Schmitt reported just yesterday, McCain secured a sweetheart loan from a Maryland bank by agreeing, in the event that his campaign did not go well, to drop out and then re-enter the race simply to get federal matching funds.
Notice something else? Oh yes: the reporter, one Michael Luo (whose work I’m not familiar with), never bothered to get a quote from the Obama campaign answering the charge.
Kevin Drum thinks that the Dem nomination is Obama’s “unless the press tires of him, of course. Then all bets are off.” Looks like it’s already happening.
In any event, let’s keep score: it is now 48 hours since Schmitt has reported his findings. Still no coverage from the MSM. Lots on Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain, though. How long will it be before the media decides to report on the story? I’m not holding my breath.
Author: Jonathan Zasloff
Jonathan Zasloff teaches Torts, Land Use, Environmental Law, Comparative Urban Planning Law, Legal History, and Public Policy Clinic - Land Use, the Environment and Local Government. He grew up and still lives in the San Fernando Valley, about which he remains immensely proud (to the mystification of his friends and colleagues). After graduating from Yale Law School, and while clerking for a federal appeals court judge in Boston, he decided to return to Los Angeles shortly after the January 1994 Northridge earthquake, reasoning that he would gladly risk tremors in order to avoid the average New England wind chill temperature of negative 55 degrees.
Professor Zasloff has a keen interest in world politics; he holds a PhD in the history of American foreign policy from Harvard and an M.Phil. in International Relations from Cambridge University. Much of his recent work concerns the influence of lawyers and legalism in US external relations, and has published articles on these subjects in the New York University Law Review and the Yale Law Journal. More generally, his recent interests focus on the response of public institutions to social problems, and the role of ideology in framing policy responses.
Professor Zasloff has long been active in state and local politics and policy. He recently co-authored an article discussing the relationship of Proposition 13 (California's landmark tax limitation initiative) and school finance reform, and served for several years as a senior policy advisor to the Speaker of California Assembly. His practice background reflects these interests: for two years, he represented welfare recipients attempting to obtain child care benefits and microbusinesses in low income areas. He then practiced for two more years at one of Los Angeles' leading public interest environmental and land use firms, challenging poorly planned development and working to expand the network of the city's urban park system. He currently serves as a member of the boards of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (a state agency charged with purchasing and protecting open space), the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice (the leading legal service firm for low-income clients in east Los Angeles), and Friends of Israel's Environment. Professor Zasloff's other major activity consists in explaining the Triangle Offense to his very patient wife, Kathy.
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