Obama criticizes 527s
Posted: Thursday, December 20, 2007 6:39 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
Exeter, NH -- Obama singled out 527s for criticism at a roundtable for independent voters here Thursday afternoon.
Pointing to a report from yesterday that showed that 527s would spend more than both political parties in this election, he said, "Right now in Iowa you have candidates who are having millions of dollars spent on their behalf uh by other groups."
"These folks don't have to disclose where they are getting money from. It's completely the Wild West, these 527s and so forth. And that's something that's going to have to be controlled," he added.
Obama himself is the target of such an independent expenditure -- with the Association of Federal State and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) criticizing his health-care plan in a direct mail piece in Iowa. But the group, which has endorsed Clinton, used a quote from Edwards criticizing Obama on his plan.
The mailer has drawn fire from the Edwards campaign, which says it unfairly implies that the Edwards campaign is engaging in negative attacks and could bias Iowans, who have a distaste for attack politics, against their candidate.
Obama's comments came in response to a question on the need for term limits for senators to help prevent rampant corruption in Washington. He said that imposing term limits would be difficult, because it would require a constitutional amendment -- but it was more important to have competitive elections. He added that he was a huge supporter of public financing of campaigns, which could provide candidates free television advertising and make them less dependent on money from special interest groups.
In response to questions from the panelists at the table, Obama also said that if he could only pass one piece legislation during his years as president it would be comprehensive energy reform. "I would enact a bold energy policy, because I think that we could save so much money, engineer such a surplus in the economy, and solve climate change all at one time. And it would improve our national security posture. So you get three things. It helps our environment, our economy, and our national security."
He added that it would also free up resources to help pay for domestic programs like universal health care.
The roundtable focused on "Fairness in Government," but also served to give a voice to New Hampshire independents, who are a significant swing block in the first in the nation primary.
Trying to prove that he really did have an independent voice, Obama pointed to his stance on personal diplomacy, saying that he would meet personally with enemies. He said that Bush was not writing letters to Kim Jong Il, though before he was universally criticized for the statement. "I guess I was six to nine months ahead of the curve," he joked.
Obama was more engaged with the six voters at the table than he usually is at a roundtable, laughing at questions and adopting an aw-shucks attitude at the praise heaped on him by the independents at the table. Only two of the voters were undecided, and one man -- Peter Colby from Rye -- said if the election were held today he would vote for Obama.
One independent said that Obama really did personify the "audacity of hope." Another woman compared Obama's speech at the 2004 convention to the Gettysburg Address.
She told him, "I guess I've always believed a voice will come again that will help lead us back to the ideals of our founding fathers and of the ideas from the Gettysburg Address. I heard you at the convention in 2004 and I though, 'If this young man is for real…'"
"That's a lot of pressure," Obama joked, cutting her off
The tone of the roundtable could certainly help Obama, as he seeks to cull independents who can vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary.
