Just More Words: Obama’s Revisionist History

Obama’s “Memories” From Past Campaigns Are A Little Blurry

President Barack Obama: “You Know What? I Might Be Worried About All This Money Being Spent If It Wasn’t For My Memories Of Previous Campaigns.” OBAMA: “You know what? I might be worried about all this money being spent if it wasn’t for my memories of previous campaigns. That first campaign I ran, the last campaign I ran in 2008, I’ve been outspent before. I have had a lot of money thrown at me before.” (President Barack Obama, Campaign Rally, Pittsburgh, PA, 7/6/12)

YOU WON’T HEAR HIM SAY IT, BUT IN 2008, OBAMA OUTSPENT AND BLANKETED MCCAIN WITH ATTACK ADS

In 2008, Obama Outspent McCain By “More Than Two To One.” “With Republican Congressional committees largely keeping pace with the Democrats, Mr. Obama and his Democratic allies appear increasingly likely to be matched or even outspent by Republican and conservative groups – a far cry from 2008, when Mr. Obama outspent Senator John McCain by more than two to one and super PACs did not exist.” (Nicholas Confessore, Jo Craven McGinty and Derek Willis, “Fund-Raising For Romney Eats Into Obama’s Edge,” The New York Times, 5/21/12)

Obama Was The First Major Party Presidential Candidate In History To Forgo Public Financing. “When then-presidential candidate Barack Obama decided against taking money from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund – and the accompanying limits on outside contributions – during the 2008 election, he was the first major-party nominee to opt out of the program since it was established in the 1970s.” (Amanda Becker, “Public Funds Dwindle For 2012 Campaigns,” Roll Call, 7/7/11)

• Breaking His Earlier Campaign Pledge To Participate In The Program. “Sen. Barack Obama reversed his pledge to seek public financing in the general election yesterday, a move that drew criticism from adversaries and allies alike but could provide him with a significant spending advantage over Republican rival John McCain.” (Shailagh Murray and Perry Bacon Jr., “Obama To Reject Public Funds For Election,” The Washington Post, 6/20/08)
• Obama Backed Off His Pledge Once “It Became Clear That Obama Had The Potential To Be A Historic Fundraiser.” “Obama in 2007 had pledged to participate for the 2008 election. And he was lauded by advocates of stricter campaign rules for winning an FEC opinion granting flexibility in the program and for announcing that if he won the Democratic nomination, he would ‘aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee’ for both to accept public financing. But after it became clear that Obama had the potential to be a historic fundraiser (he ultimately raised a record-shattering $750 million for his 2008 bid), he backed out of his promise.” (Kenneth P. Vogel, “Ex-McCain Lawyer: Barack Obama ‘Mugged’ John McCain In 2008,” Politico, 10/24/11)

The Obama Legacy: Most Negative Ads In The History Of Presidential Campaigns

PolitiFact: Obama In 2008 Ran “More Negative Ads In American History” Than Any Other Presidential Candidate. “Rubio said, ‘No candidate has run more negative ads in American history than Barack Obama did in 2008, especially in the general.’ In sheer numbers, that statement is correct: Obama bought many more ads than McCain did, both positive and negative. Nevertheless, two studies suggest that, overall, Obama’s ads were not significantly more negative than his rival. He ran the most negative ads because he ran the most ads. We rate Rubio’s statement Mostly True.” (“Marco Rubio Said ‘No Candidate Has Run More Negative Ads In American History Than Barack Obama In 2008,” Tampa Bay Times’, “PolitiFact” 2/6/12)

In 2008, Obama “Ran More Negative Ads Than Any Other Candidate In History.” “The ad’s potency speaks to a fact about Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign that often goes overlooked. That year he ran more negative ads than any other candidate in history, according to the Wisconsin Advertising Project, a nonpartisan political research group.” (Jeremy W. Peters, “Aggressive Ads For Obama, At The Ready,” The New York Times, 5/8/12)

“Even The Sainted Hope-And-Change Campaign Of 2008 Spent Heavily On Negative Ads – More Than The McCain Campaign Did.” “‘What ever happened to hope and change?’ asked Bob Schieffer of CBS News. He apparently forgot that even the sainted Obama hope-and-change campaign of 2008 spent heavily on negative ads-more than the ­McCain campaign did. (Does no one recall the exquisite ‘Seven,’ in which the old hero was presented as a doddering doofus unable to name the number of houses he owned?)” (Frank Rich, “Frank Rich: Nuke ‘Em,” New York Magazine, 6/17/12)

Obama’s 2008 “Hope And Change Campaign Was The Happy Cover On A Dogged, Overwhelming Attack Campaign.” “We’re talking about a campaign that outspent John McCain by as much as a 3-1 ratio in the final stretch, and devoted most of that money to negative ads. The ‘hope and change’ campaign was the happy cover on a dogged, overwhelming attack campaign.” (David Weigel, “The Myth Of The Positive 2008 Obama Campaign,” Slate, 5/22/12)

OBAMA FORGETS HE’S BEEN PLAYING HARDBALL SINCE HIS FIRST CAMPAIGN

CLAIM: At A Recent Campaign Event, Obama Implied That He Struggled For Cash In His Bid For State Senate. OBAMA: “I have got to tell you, despite the cynicism, despite the cynicism and the negativism, what I think about are is my first race. When I was running for state senate, I could not afford television commercials. And Michelle and I we used to go door to door and pass out fliers that had printed out at Kinko’s, and march in 4th of July parades. It is was hard work.”(President Barack Obama, “Remarks By The President At A Campaign Event,” Pittsburgh, PA, 7/6/12)

REALITY: Obama “Raised A Significant Amount Of Money For His Primary.” “But according to an article that ran in the Hyde Park Herald Obama, raised a significant amount of his money for his primary, $60,000. He ran unopposed after petitioning to get his four primary opponents kicked off the ballot.”(Andrew Kaczynski, “Obama Suggests He Struggled In First State Senate Election To Raise Cash, But Didn’t,” BuzzFeed, 7/6/12)

REALITY: Obama Took Advantage Of Election Rules To Push His Four Primary Opponents Off The Ballot So That He Ran “Unopposed On The Democratic Ticket In A Heavily Democratic District.” “In his first race for office, seeking a state Senate seat on Chicago’s gritty South Side in 1996, Obama effectively used election rules to eliminate his Democratic competition. As a community organizer, he had helped register thousands of voters. But when it came time to run for office, he employed Chicago rules to invalidate the voting petition signatures of three of his challengers. The move denied each of them, including incumbent Alice Palmer, a longtime Chicago activist, a place on the ballot. It cleared the way for Obama to run unopposed on the Democratic ticket in a heavily Democrat district.” (Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston, “Obama Played Hardball In First Chicago Campaign,” CNN,5/29/08)

• Chicago Tribune Columnist John Kass: “He May Have Gotten His Start Registering Thousands Of Voters. But In That First Race, He Made Sure Voters Had Just One Choice.” “‘That was Chicago politics,’ said John Kass, a veteran Chicago Tribune columnist. ‘Knock out your opposition, challenge their petitions, destroy your enemy, right? It is how Barack Obama destroyed his enemies back in 1996 that conflicts with his message today. He may have gotten his start registering thousands of voters. But in that first race, he made sure voters had just one choice.'” (Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston, “Obama Played Hardball In First Chicago Campaign,” CNN, 5/29/08)

SURPRISE, SURPRISE! OBAMA IS WINNING THE NEGATIVE AD RACE

On The Campaign Trail, Obama Is Implying That “Republicans Are Responsible For The Tenor And Volume” Of Negative Ads. “It’s nothing like the first campaign, the former Illinois state legislator and U.S. senator said – when he and his wife circulated fliers printed at Kinko’s. It sure isn’t. Yet the way the president told it today, it sounded as if the Republicans are responsible for the tenor and volume of it.” (Mark Silva, “$10 M Checks, Obama Complains – Yet Look Who’s Gone Negative,” Bloomberg, 7/6/12)

New York Magazine ‘s Frank Rich: Obama’s “Political Hit Men” Indicated That Their Attack Ads Were “Inevitable” As Far Back As August 2011. “ And yet from the blowback that erupted once his Bain ad hit the fan-from his own camp, from the pious arbiters of Beltway manners, and, of course, from his adversaries-you’d think Romney was an innocent civilian under assault by a drone. What was everyone so shocked about? As far back as August 2011, Obama’s political hit men were signaling the inevitable to Politico: The president, ‘resigned to running for reelection in a glum nation,’ had little choice ‘but to run a slashing, personal campaign aimed at disqualifying his likeliest opponent.'” (Frank Rich, “Frank Rich: Nuke ‘Em,” New York Magazine, 6/17/12)

Abandoning The Brand Of Hope And Change, Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod Voluntarily Admitted That Obama Ran A Negative 2008 Campaign And Said He Would Do The Same In 2012. “Axelrod disputed the revisionist notion that Obama ran a strictly positive campaign four years ago – just ask Hillary Clinton and John McCain if they agree that Obama played patty-cake – and said the campaign is doing what it did in 2008, drawing a contrast between Obama and the opposition.” (Glenn Thrush, “Obama’s Negative Feedback Loop,” Politico, 5/30/12)

76 Percent Of The 68,443 Obama Ads That Have Aired Over The Last 30 Days Have Been Negative. “Off the 68,443 ads that Obama has run on TV (local broadcast, national network & national cable) in the 30-day period ended July 2, 52,016 had an ‘anti-Romney message’ – 76 percent of the total, according to New York-based Kantar Media’s CMAG, which monitors campaign advertising.” (Mark Silva, “$10 M Checks, Obama Complains – Yet Look Who’s Gone Negative,” Bloomberg, 7/6/12)

“Obama’s Negative Ads Have Overtaken His Positive Ads.” (Mark Silva, “$10 M Checks, Obama Complains – Yet Look Who’s Gone Negative,” Bloomberg, 7/6/12)

• “Since April 10, When Republican Rick Santorum’s Exit Essentially Made Romney His Party’s Presumptive Nominee, Obama Has Run 112,202 Ads, Of Which 58,151 Were Anti-Romney And 54,051 Positive.” (Mark Silva, “$10 M Checks, Obama Complains – Yet Look Who’s Gone Negative,” Bloomberg, 7/6/12)
• And “Obama’s Ads Ran Three Times As Frequently As Romney’s.” “Obama’s ads ran three times as frequently as Romney’s (23,815) – though the effective gap was narrowed by super-PAC spending: with the work of Romney-allied committees, Restore Our Future (7,939 ads) and Americans for Prosperity (5,968 ads). And there is evidence that those attack ads from camp Obama have taken a toll on Romney’s favorability ratings in key states. No one’s running a campaign out of Kinko’s anymore.” (Mark Silva, “$10 M Checks, Obama Complains – Yet Look Who’s Gone Negative,” Bloomberg, 7/6/12)