President Obama’s signal to Super PACs is disappointing

President Obama’s signal that he wants wealthy donors to support a Super PAC backing his re-election is disappointing, though not unexpected given the fundraising arms race that the presidential campaign has become.

“If President Obama had fixed presidential public financing, as he pledged to do in 2008, and seriously gone to bat for more transparency in campaign spending, our political system would be healthier and this would be less of an issue,” said Common Cause President Bob Edgar. “A strengthened presidential public financing system would not have abolished Super PACs, but by helping presidential candidates run competitive campaigns from a base of small donors and matching public funds, we could have made it possible for candidates, including the President, to make good on their stated desire to succeed without aid from Super PACs.”

It is also troubling that the President is making advisers and other administration officials available to assist in the Super PAC’s fundraising. “The White House’s claim that those officials are not soliciting money is laughable,” Edgar said.