For once it’s not George W. Bush’s fault. But the Obama-Biden reelection campaign is still blaming a Republican for its remarkable flip-flop to back a so-called Super PAC, Priorities USA: Mitt Romney.
In an email to supporters explaining why the campaign and president, long critics of private super political action committees, campaign manager Jim Messina said that helping the outside group raise big money is the only way the Democrat can fight Romney and the groups expected to help him if he wins the GOP nomination.
“We decided to do this because we can’t afford for the work you’re doing in your communities, and the grassroots donations you give to support it, to be destroyed by hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads,” he wrote. “It’s a real risk.”
The move is an aggressive one for a campaign expected to raise $750 million or more and a sign that the overall 2011 campaign could cost billions. It is also a key move, say Democrats, to fight back hard against the GOP super PACS spawned by the Citizens United court decision.
Said Messina in a blog post, “With so much at stake, we can’t allow for two sets of rules in this election whereby the Republican nominee is the beneficiary of unlimited spending and Democrats unilaterally disarm.” Here is Messina’s latest memo to supporters sent after the campaign issued a statement referenced in Philip Klein’s earlier Beltway Confidential.
“Paul — “I wrote something for our blog about our decision to support Priorities USA, the Super PAC that can help neutralize the avalanche of special-interest spending to defeat President Obama. Every supporter should read it… “I just want to add something for you specifically about your role in all of this. “We decided to do this because we can’t afford for the work you’re doing in your communities, and the grassroots donations you give to support it, to be destroyed by hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads. “It’s a real risk. “In 2011, the Super PAC supporting Mitt Romney raised $30 million from fewer than 200 contributors. Ninety-six percent of what they’ve spent so far, more than $18 million, has been on attack ads. The main engine of Romney’s campaign has an average contribution of roughly $150,000. “That’s why it’s up to us — the grassroots organization — to win this election where we have the real advantage, and that’s on the ground. More than 1.3 million Americans have already donated. Our average donation is $55, and 98 percent are $250 or less. “The stakes are too important to play by two different sets of rules. If we fail to act, we concede this election to a small group of powerful people intent on removing the President at any cost.”
