Matthew Dowd was George Bush's chief strategist in 2004, so knows a thing or two about successful presidential campaigns (he left the White House in April 2007, disillusioned with Bush). He argues quite convincingly here that Obama made a mistake in breaking with the public financing system - that he damaged his credibility with voters for a financial advantage that will in reality be pretty meaningless:
The way the system works he could have outraised and vastly outspent McCain in the next 90 days before the Democratic convention because primary dollars are still in place. After the convention, he basically only has eight weeks left and spending a little less than $90 million dollars (which is the public finance amount) effectively is going to be all but impossible...
...Politically, on behalf of both his brand and the effective conduct of the campaign, it was an error for Obama to choose tactics over truth.
By the way, isn't that exactly why most people in this country are upset at the current administration????
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