Obama: DNC will stop accepting lobbyist/PAC money.

[SirNitram]

Holy Shit.

[quote]Senator Barack Obama, as he becomes his party’s presumptive presidential nominee, is starting to exert his authority over the Democratic National Committee. A first step? New fund-raising guidelines.

Mr. Obama is announcing today that the D.N.C. will no longer accept contributions from federal lobbyists or political action committees, which follows the rules he established for his own campaign last year.

“We want the Democratic Party to conform to his standards of openness to reduce the influence of special interests,â€

[rhoenix]

...Wait, what?

I didn't expect this, though this makes me respect Obama that much more.

[LadyTevar]

He's been almost literally nickle-and-diming it all along, so I'm not surrpised

[General Havoc]

Very very cagey move here. Obama's got a BIG warchest right now, bigger even than McCain's, despite all the fighting he's had to do with Hillary. His nomination will bring yet more money in. This way he gets to trade some of that incoming money for a lot of political clout for the general election.

I rather like this.

[frigidmagi]

Ballsy dude, very ballsy. You just declared war on the lobbyist system.



Alright, let's go to war.

[Steve]

Does it prevent individual Democrats running for office from still picking up lobbyist checks? I'm talking about senatorial, House, or state and local-level campaigns.

[frigidmagi]

Given the US rules on what political parties can do, I'm not sure Obama can legally stop individuals from accepting lobby money. Anyone else know more?

[SirNitram]

Given the US rules on what political parties can do, I'm not sure Obama can legally stop individuals from accepting lobby money. Anyone else know more?

This is DNC only. Individuals can and the DCCC has openly declared they won't change. However, Obama has also pushed through new rules that make those who do take lobbyist cash display from whom, so he is taking them on in ever-escalating steps.