海角大神

You might say President Obama was against "super PAC" fundraising before he was for it.

From the very beginning, Mr. Obama castigated the US Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in Citizens United (read the court鈥檚 opinion, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission) less than a week after it was handed down. In his January 2010 State of the Union message, Obama said thus:

That ticked Justice Samuel Alito off something fierce 鈥� he was caught mouthing 鈥渘ot true鈥� after the president鈥檚 2010 State of the Union remarks 鈥� and he has joined Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Antonin Scalia in abstaining from attending the State of the Union since that time.

So fast-forward to late Monday night, when news broke that Obama, in the words of POLITICO, offered a 鈥渞eluctant blessing鈥� for his campaign to raise money for the main 鈥� but flagging 鈥� Democratic super PAC, "Priorities USA."

(Why do we say flagging? Because Priorities raised $4.2 million in 2011 versus an astounding $51 million for its GOP rival, "American Crossroads," and nearly $18 million for a pro-Romney super PAC. More on Crossroads shortly.)

Well, there鈥檚 no such thing as a 鈥渞eluctant blessing.鈥� Either it鈥檚 blessed or it鈥檚 not.

And the Obama campaign, according to The New York Times, has given its blessing to super PAC fundraising 鈥� even if they keep a smattering of fig leaves affixed to a few sensitive spots. To wit:

What鈥檚 the rationale for the turn? Crossroads and Mitt Romney鈥檚 super PAC, "Restore our Future," are on a roll.

After extolling the president鈥檚 willingness to overturn the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision, even his willingness to go so far as a constitutional amendment, Obama鈥檚 campaign manager Jim Messina noted in a blog post:

Besides calling the Obama campaign鈥檚 decision a 鈥渃ynical course reversal,鈥� Crossroads pointed reporters toward an October 2010 NYT piece detailing Obama鈥檚 harsh criticism of super PACs. In short, Obama argues that super PACs are a threat to American democracy as we know it.

"You can鈥檛 let it happen," Obama told thousands of supporters gathered at a school park in a predominantly African-American, working-class neighborhood in northern Philadelphia. "Don鈥檛 let them hijack your agenda. The American people deserve to know who鈥檚 trying to sway their elections, and you can鈥檛 stand by and let the special interests drown out the voices of the American people....

"You don鈥檛 know," he said here. 鈥淚t could be the oil industry, it could be the insurance industry, it could even be foreign-owned corporations. You don鈥檛 know because they don鈥檛 have to disclose. Now that鈥檚 not just a threat to Democrats, that鈥檚 a threat to our democracy."

And while Democrats are trying to get into the game, that more recent New York Times article raises another tough question for the Obama team: After decrying super PACs for so long, will their moneymen (and ladies) rush to prop up Priorities USA?

As a top adviser to George Soros, one of the left鈥檚 wealthiest benefactors, put it:

鈥淚t takes either a very sophisticated or very cynical person to decry the nefarious influence of money on politics and then turn around and write a check for $5 million to influence elections.鈥�

Or even more bitingly, as one top Democratic fundraiser recently told a top Priorities USA official, per POLITICO: 鈥淚s this what we鈥檝e become?鈥�

鈥� David Grant

• What鈥檚 a super PAC? See the Monitor鈥檚 explainer here.
• Love yourself some super PAC that鈥檚 always been a big fan of itself? Check out Stephen Colbert鈥檚/Jon Stewart鈥檚 super PAC here.

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