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First up: the RNC. On Sunday, OnMessage Inc., a Virginia-based company with Republican ties, rolled out a series of pro-McCain, anti-Obama television ads in the battleground states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The energy-centric campaign--a $3 million RNC buy set to air over 10 days--is a perfect example of how, when it comes to spending, the distinction between McCain and the RNC is pretty much irrelevant. While McCain is "pushing his own party to face climate change," says the ad's announcer, "Barack Obama... just says no to lower gas taxes... no to nuclear... and no to more production." This is exactly the same (misleading) message McCain's campaign delivered in a spot released online late last month. But because McCain "had nothing do with the [new] ads," and the RNC merely funded the spots--it apparently didn't consult on content--they're subject to neither the candidate's $84.1 million spending limit nor the $20 million cap on what the party can spend in coordination with the campaign. In other words, the RNC can invest unlimited sums of money in commercials like this. Given that GOP donors can each contribute $28,500 to the national party--or about $25,000 more than Dems can give directly to Obama--expect to see plenty more On Message-style spots before Election Day.
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http://http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/07/07/for-mccain-money-talks.aspx
McCain has tried to make Obama's refusal to take public funding a big gotcha. But now Mr. Obama has been proven correct.
He will be able to turn the issue around on Mr. McCain in the first debate.
McCain will try to paint Obama as a flip flopper while Obama will show McCain taking advantage of loopholes that McCain himself helped craft. McCain is violating the spirit of his own law while Obama is true to the principal of taking special interest money out of our political system. Grass roots populous campaign vs. one run by powerful special interests and elitists.