Obama's Situational Campaign Standards

Carol Platt Liebau | September 09, 2008 10:44 PM

From Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic Monthly:

[A]fter a year of telling donors not to contribute to 527 groups, of encouraging strategists not to form them and of suggesting that outside messaging efforts would not be welcome in Obama's Democratic Party, Obama's strategists have changed their approach.

That was back when Barack thought he could "afford" to be high-minded, because he supposedly had an insurmountable financial advantage over his opponent. Now, apparently, money is a little tighter than he anticipated and it's A-OK with the Obama campaign if a few 527's are willing to assist.

Well, the flip pairs nicely with Barack's reversal on his pledge to accept public funding for his campaign.

It seems that for Obama, campaign standards (and ethics, too, given his remarks today) are strictly situational.