Empty Suit (and Words), My Ass

Today, Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) took an enormous step towards reforming the corrupt, archaic cash-fixation that is D.C. politics. They have made a joint declaration that the Democratic Party, in stark contrast to the McBush campaign, will no longer accept donations from Washington lobbyists or 527's. It is unclear whether this will extend down-ticket, forbidding any Democrat from accepting lobbyist or 527 cheddar, but it does apply to the Obama campaign and to the DNC general election fund. This represents a historic departure from previous campaign cycles, where candidates and parties have traditionally pandered to whichever groups or firms offered the greatest financial boost to their efforts.

This, of course, flies in the face of the message issued by the Rightwing Noise Machine, claiming that Obama is an "empty suit," a man of lofty rhetoric without substance. Revolutionizing the fund raising standards of one of the two major political parties in the country? I think that counts as substance if anything does. This is that Change, with a capital C, that Obama and the Dems have been advancing and the Republicans have been failing to embrace.

Good to see our Man Obama follow through on his "people power" talk. I'd love to see Obama call the McCain/K Street campaign on this issue during on of McBush's proposed townhall meetings. Lets see if McCain's "strength" really is getting burned, rhetorically, in a small setting instead of getting burned on the national stage. Either way, this move is a huge victory for the voice of the people and for Democracy in general, and its going to make the whole "Obama is out of touch of the average American" argument seem pretty silly, seeing as Obama will be refusing the pander-cash from the D.C. powerhouses that outspend the People's Voice in Washington while McCain's floundering presidential bid will be lapping it up. He sure is "A Leader We Can Beleive In," if by "we" he means "we the D.C./K Street Elite."

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