The Edwards-Obama Comedy Routine

  There's an old addage that goes something like, "The world is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy to those who feel".

  There's something about the complete abandon of logic and consistency, the utter absurdity in claims and actions, that foils a rational mind and leads it into laughter. This is a lesson of so many great satirists: from Voltaire's Dr. Pangloss to Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. It includes Bush's "best of all possible wars" and how Hillary "learned to stop worrying and love the bomb". And it is a lesson not unlearned by the Edwards and Obama campaigns.

  Apparently, it will be Edwards and Obama who will be "standing up to the special interests" for America. After repeated slams of Clinton for accepting money from registered lobbyisits they have imaged themselves as the clean candidates who refuse such special interests. At Yearly Kos, Clinton was challenged on lobbyist funds and rightfully booed when claiming that it would not affect her policy. Obama countered that these lobbyists wouldn't be spending Billions if they weren't having an effect, saying "They aren't spending that just because they are contributing to the public interest. They have an agenda".

  Edwards was even more aggressive saying, "Why don't we start today reforming the Democrat Party by all of us admitting no more from this day forward, not a dime from the Washington lobbyists... We do not do business with these insiders". Then in a grand form of a common sense gesture, he asked the crowd, "does anyone here have registered lobbyists working for them?". Apparently, no one raised there hand.

  However, it is unlikely that many in the crowd had money bundlers, members of hedge funds and 527 commitees working for them either. Edwards didn't ask that question. But why?

  Before the campaign, Edwards started two nonprofit organizations and a 527 soft mony commitee that raised $2.7 Million. However, according to the N.Y. Times:

"So he set up a series of entities to finance his travel, to finance a political shop and to finance an issue shop. It all adds up to a remarkable feat of keeping a presidential candidacy alive without any of the traditional bases for it."

Mr. Edwards depended for his activities in large part on donations from supporters. In addition to the two nonprofit organizations, he created a leadership political action committee and a 527 "soft money" organization that also shared the same name: the OneAmerica Committee. These two committees each allowed donors to give more than the $2,300 per person limit in a presidential primary or general election, and, in some cases, to give in unlimited amounts.

From 2005, when he established them, through 2006, the committee and the soft money organization raised $2.7 million, most of which paid for travel and other activities that helped Mr. Edwards maintain his profile.

  And further added:

Of the explicitly political entities, Mr. Edwards' OneAmerica Committee 527 organization allowed donors to give without limitations. The money was transferred to his leadership political action committee. Leadership committees were initially created to allow prominent politicians to raise money for distribution to needy office-seekers. But Mr. Edwards spent the entire $2.7 million he raised for OneAmerica, including $532,000 raised by the 527, on himself, an increasingly common trend among politicians.

  Edwards is also the the only Democratic presidential contender who has worked for a hedge fund: New York-based Fortress Financial Group LLC. And "received $182,250 in campaign contributions from employees of Fortress Fortress in the first thee months of this year".  

  And then there's the money bundlers: Edwards has 543 bundlers! That's more than double the number of Clinton and Obama (not that having over 200 each is great). What's worse Edwards doesn't even disclose who they are who they work for or even how much they raise!

  And what of Obama? He has 262 bundlers and only discloses names after they raise $50,000.  He hosts dinner like this one. He keeps talking about refusing money from lobbyisits and PAC's, but as this article shows, he secretly recives their help. From the article:

While Obama has decried the influence of special interests in Washington, the reality is that many of the most talented and experienced political operatives in his party are lobbyists, and he needs their help...

...Two lobbyists who are supporting another candidate and spoke to The Hill on condition of anonymity said that Obama's campaign contacted them asking to be put in touch with their networks of business clients and acquaintances.

One of the lobbyists, who supports Clinton, said that Shomik Dutta, a fundraiser for Obama's campaign, called to ask if the lobbyist's wife would be interested in making a political contribution.

"I was quite taken aback," he said. "He was very direct in saying that you're a lobbyist and we don't want contributions from lobbyists. But your wife can contribute and we like your network."

Dutta declined to discuss his work.

  It's also worth mentioning that both Edwards and Obama attended, and spoke at, the national convention of the lobbying group for trial lawyers. In fact, Fred Baron, former president of American Trial Lawyers of America is Edwards financial chairman. And Obama has accepted money from law firms with lobbying operations.

  But, I'm sure none of this will affect their policies, right Dr. Pangloss? And I'm sure these are the two to clean up Washington, right Dr. Strangelove?

  ...or maybe I'll have to start writing tragedies.