Obama: Will he accept matching funds?

Posted: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 9:12 AM by Mark Murray

Is Obama still holding out the option of taking federal matching funds in the fall? "Aides to Obama said that for now he will continue to forgo the chance to raise $2,300 per donor for the general election on top of the money he is raising for his primary-season account. Obama's campaign has delayed a decision on whether to accept public financing for the general election, but top donors and aides have urged him to become the first candidate in three decades to turn down public funds. The $85 million federal grant to the candidates is intended to remove questions about the influence of private donations on the presidential contest, and candidates who accept are barred from raising other funds for the fall campaign. ‘The campaign hasn't officially made a decision as to whether it will do that or not,’ said Mark Gilbert, a top Florida fundraiser for Obama. ‘My guess would be, if they decide to forgo the funds from the government, we would not have any problem raising money for the general.’” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/09/AR2008060902441.html

“According to the Journal, lower-than-average mortgage rates were offered to Johnson and a special group of borrowers with close connections to Countrywide Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo. Republican officials went further Monday, firing off e-mails to reporters suggesting wrongdoing by Johnson and calling his loan terms ‘highly questionable.’”

After it was reported that the Obama was calling this story “overblown,” the McCain camp fired off this statement: "There is nothing 'overblown and irrelevant' about millions of Americans facing foreclosure and Barack Obama entrusting his most important decision as a presidential candidate to a man who has accepted millions in special loans from a subprime mortgage lender. The Obama campaign's reaction is even more appalling considering that they were the first to criticize the Clinton campaign for ties to Countrywide and subprime lenders. It might be 'overblown' to ask that Barack Obama's actions match his rhetoric. Apparently, fixing the housing crisis begins with the Obama campaign."

Politico hits on another topic regarding Jim Johnson that could touch a new round of controversy for Obama: executive compensation. "Yet despite Johnson’s legendary fastidiousness, his high-profile campaign role has suddenly exposed him to questions about his financial dealings. The questions range from his relationship with the embattled CEO of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial to his more recent oversight roles on various corporate compensation committees that approved hefty executive pay packages. In a presidential campaign where the subprime mortgage crisis and high corporate salaries figure to be staples of debate, Johnson is now at risk of becoming a political liability for Obama, who’s trying to sell anxious voters on an economic message that calls for stricter financial industry regulation and ridding Washington of special favors and tax breaks for wealthy CEOs."

Could Obama see some of his campaign proposals get voted on in Congress THIS year? The New York Times hints at that. "Leading Congressional Democrats indicated on Monday that they planned to work hand-in-glove with the Democratic standard-bearer on a range of economic issues, including gas prices and increasing joblessness. On Monday, House Democrats said they intended to force a separate vote this week — possibly Thursday — on extending unemployment benefits for those whose aid is running out.”

“Though President Bush and many Republicans in Congress have resisted the extra benefits, Democrats say they believe that rising unemployment will strengthen their hand and provide political ammunition should the president veto the bill." More: "The pieces of the economic program Mr. Obama laid out on Monday were not new, but the context was. This is the first full week of the general election campaign, and the candidates are beginning what promises to be an intense fight over the economy and the Iraq war. Mr. Obama, by focusing on economic issues, was trying to move those concerns ahead of Iraq and national security matters, where Mr. McCain has more experience."

The Los Angeles Times checks in with Philadelphia, MS, to see how Obama is playing there. "For all the excitement about Barack Obama and his history-making run for president, there is anxiety, too, because the present is still a hostage to the past. Everything in this slow town of one-way streets and more than 80 churches is viewed through the lens of race. Obama's success makes some people as anxious as it makes others proud."

More: "Obama's victory in the primaries comes just as Philadelphia prepares to mark the 44th anniversary of the killings that put it reluctantly on the map. Racial tensions are not as violently overt as they were then; today the slights are subtle, from the glance averted on the street to the job application that is never considered. With five months of fierce presidential campaigning ahead -- black against white -- there is a sense that simmering racial tensions are about to boil again."

On a similar note… “Joyce Susick is the type of voter who might carry Barack Obama to the White House -- or keep him out. A registered Democrat in a highly competitive state, she is eager to replace George W. Bush, whom she ranks among the worst presidents ever,” the AP writes. “There's just one problem. ‘I don't think our country is ready for a black president,’ Susick, who is white, said in an interview in the paint store where she works. ‘A black man is never going to win Pennsylvania.’ Susick said her personal objection to Obama is his inexperience, not his color. ‘It has nothing to do with race,’ she said.”

The Washington Post profiles how Obama built his online network of donors.

And the latest Obama staffer… “Jason Furman, a 37-year-old expert on fiscal policy, worked as a staff economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton administration and also was a senior director for the National Economic Council. He has also worked at the World Bank. Furman, who holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, is an associate of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin through their work at the Hamilton Project, a forum for economic policy ideas at the Brookings Institution think tank. Furman has also worked closely with Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz. The two co-wrote a paper on the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s.” He was also an economic adviser to Kerry in 2004.

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