Are you taking money from lobbyists?
10/27/11 – President Obama – One of these statements is a lie. Which is it? Your campaign letter of September 29 or the headline reported today on Democracy Now from the NY Times?
Thomas –
I'm the national finance director here at OFA.
I know we've been
sending you a lot of email lately. That's because we're staring down
a critical
fundraising deadline tomorrow at midnight.
You
know what that means for your inbox, but let me give you a sense of
what that looks like around here.
The staff and I are working
around the clock, powered by too much coffee. It's been way too long
since we called our moms. And we've all had more pizza and bad
takeout in the past few weeks than anyone should have in a year.
No
one's complaining; that's what we signed up for. And we're not doing
this just because it's our job to make sure the campaign has the
resources it needs. We're doing this because it's part of what
defines this movement.
From the beginning, we've refused to
take money from D.C. lobbyists and corporate special interests. Our
operation is fueled by people inspiring each other to take ownership
of this campaign.
That's
why we've been emailing this week, and that's why I'm obligated to
remind you once more that the deadline is coming up in a matter of
hours.
If you're able to, will you chip in just $3
today?
https://donate.barackobama.com/Friday-Deadline
Rufus
Gifford
National Finance Director
Obama for America
I wrote to Rufus about this, but received no reply
In campaign news, President Obama is relying on a group of prominent supporters who are active in the lobbying industry to raise millions of dollars for his re-election bid, despite a pledge not to take money from lobbyists. The New York Times reports at least 15 of Obama’s “bundlers” are involved in lobbying for Washington consulting shops or private companies. They have raised more than $5 million so far for the campaign. Bundlers are supporters who contribute their own money to a campaign and solicit it from others. A number of the bundlers have hosted Obama at fund-raisers, while also visiting the White House on policy matters and official business. Obama’s bundlers include Sally Susman who leads Pfizer’s powerful lobbying shop, and David Cohen, who oversees lobbying at Comcast.
Thomas Daly
Retired California Newspaper Publisher
www.tomasdaly.com
www.voteoutincumbents.org