MOMocrats™

More Campaign Finance News: Obama Now Courting Big Money Donors

NPR reported this morning that after their joint "unity" campaign stop tomorrow, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will hold a private meeting with Clinton's top fundraisers for a twofold purpose: (1) to help HRC settle her $10 million campaign debt to vendors and (2) to see what they can do to help the Obama campaign.

This comes just one week after announcing that "the public financing of Presidential elections as it exits today is broken," and urging his supporters to "declare our independence from a broken system, and run the type of campaign that reflects the grassroots values that have already changed our politics and brought us this far."

So why is he now courting Clinton's big money donors?

Got $27? Make Political Change.

We're all about change here at MOMocrats.  We like making our opinions known and our voices heard, in case you couldn't tell! 

It seems to be working -- things are growing here in our corner of the political blogosphere.  But sometimes, whether we like it or not, words aren't always enough in our system to see the change we want.  Sadly, those who give the money ultimately have a bigger say than those who don't.

So I've started a revolution at my place and my fellow MOMocrats agreed to let me talk about it here, as well.  So, I'm inviting everyone to dig out their change, check under the sofa cushions and in the pockets of those jeans you haven't worn for a while and see if you can put together $27.

$27.

That's my new mantra.

Several months ago, I read Melinda Henneberger's book, If They Only Listened to Us: What Women Voters Want Men to Hear. As she was promoting her book, Henneberger quoted a statistic in one article that if every woman who voted in the 2006 national elections had contributed just $27 to any presidential candidate or party, we would pour $1.3 billion dollars into the political system.

Mm-hmm.  That's billion with a 'b.'

Go LOOK at It: How Obama Reinvented Campaign Finance

Has the buzz about the Obama campaign's decision to forgo the government-run public campaign financing system piqued your interest in just how Obama has managed to raise so much money outside of traditional channels? A graphic communications company, XPLANE, has released this nifty instructional poster showing how the Obama campaign has revolutionized the way political campaigns are financed.

H/T to Susan via Twitter.

A Chance In Hell Winning Over Women: The Company McCain Keeps

John McCain suddenly and at the last minute cancelled a fundraiser at the home of Clayton Williams, the Republican millionaire oil company owner who made his mark 20 years ago running for governor of Texas against the late Ann Richards, a Democrat.

According to a Washington Post report, when word got out that Clayton Williams was the same "gentleman" who once remarked that the weather was like rape "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it," and said of his campaign against Richards, that he would "head her and hoof her and drag her through the dirt" like cattle, the McCain campaign realized they should then scramble to cover their conservative backends.

In a report from local paper, the Midland Reporter, Williams, who has already raised $300,000 for McCain for the fundraiser at his home, illustrated the fear that grips him when he envisions an election win by Barack Obama. Williams said "he has no desire to see Obama’s “socialist” policies enacted and that all businessmen and entrepreneurs would be negatively affected should the Illinois senator win the White House."

“It is a pittance to the taxes they  (Democrats) will take from the industry,” Williams said of the $300,000 raised.

-Christine Modern English

Mother, Can You Spare a Dime?

The MOMocrats are going to the Democratic National Convention in August.  Can you help us get there?  Be a part of history (and in our hearts forever) by donating any amount to help defray the costs of travel to Denver.  We'll keep you updated on our progress, and add you to our Blogroll Of Fame.

Just click on the button above and donate via Paypal, or e-mail us at momocrats (at) gmail (dot) come and we'll gladly tell you where to send a check.  If you have any ideas or connections on how we can fundraise, we're open to all suggestions (legal suggestions, that is).

If you'd like to help us out by posting a button on your blog to this post, please use this code:

<center><a href=http://momocrats.typepad.com/momocrats/2008/06/mother-can-you.html><img src="http://momocrats.typepad.com/dnccmomocrats160.jpg"></a></center>

Thanks!

The MOMocrats

Obama's Netroots Support

I've been fascinated by how Obama's ability to fund his campaign through small individual donations has quietly and doggedly up-ended conventional wisdom about campaign finance.

Here's a representative article from the political blogs over at the Washington Post. It's also been noted that Clinton has had to scramble for a cash infusion. She lent herself $5 million and now it seems she's both belatedly kicking her direct appeal web donation machinery into gear, and appealing to muckety-muck supporters (from California, apparently) to contribute large amounts via a 527 organization. (See here for a comparison of candidates' stances on accepting help from 527s: Obama against, Clinton for.)

What will be interesting to see going forward is how Obama deals with the issue of federal public funds for the general election (up to $85 million) that McCain has challenged him to accept. Previously Obama said he would accept public funds, now it looks like he may backtrack. More on this in a bit.