The President and Super PACs

The President has decided to support a Super PAC.  He opposed the Supreme Court decision that allowed for these political action committees that can receive and spend unlimited money from special interests, including corporations.  He said he wouldn’t use them.  Now he has decided he will.  Many are accusing him of hypocrisy, lying, and worse. 

The President had two choices.  First, he could keep abstain from any involvement or acknowledgment of Super PACs, while Republicans are using them to gather millions and millions of dollars (Romney’s alone has raised 30 million).  He could hope that taking the high road combined with the sizeable amount of money he has raised on his own would be enough to counter the influence of the spending of these millions, mostly on negative ads. 

His other choice is the one he has gone with … to decide to use all legal means to advance his candidacy and at the same time pledge to work to change the system so all these means are not available in the future.  He opens up another potential source of funds, while also opening himself up to criticism. 

It can’t have been an easy choice.  Neither option is without risk.  Each one has a compelling logic.  On the one hand, you are sticking to your principles.  On the other you are saying that to allow the Republicans to have a significant advantage would be to run the risk of making a much larger sacrifice.  I think that it would have been hard to find fault with either choice.  Certainly, it is hard to take Republican accusations of hypocrisy seriously.  The President made a tough decision and explained it.  It’s what he has tried to do since day one.  That’s what I want my President to do.  I don’t ask that the President be always right, no one is.  I don’t ask that the President always make the same decision I would, no one should or would.  I ask that my President make, rather than shy away from, the tough decisions.  I as that my President explain those decisions.  That’s it.  It seems easy, but history has not shown it to be easy.  I think that this President has, for the most part, has made and explained the tough decisions.  That’s why I’m voting for him.  Certainly the fact that he is using the same means to raise money as his opponents is not going to change my mind.