Monday, September 8, 2008

Fiscal Reality Catches Up To The Precious

Suddenly, the presidential campaign of Barack Obama is in deep doo-doo. Not only is it struggling to deal with the GOP vice-presidential selection of Sarah Palin, it's facing a serious financial disadvantage.

The New York Times describes Obama's financial woes in a new article. But the news isn't news for those who read the doughty blogger Patterico. His guest poster, WLS, has been saying for the past couple of weeks that Obama's victory balloon was more in need of money than hot air.

Obama, WLS calculated, had set himself an unsustainable burn rate to fund his vast, expensive campaign apparatus -- remember his boast of contending in all 50 states? That's gone now, as fundraising slows up, but the expenses remain.

And McCain, by collecting public money and keeping a lower burn rate, will have cash but also the time to campaign. He won't have to be kept busy fundraising like Obama will. And the Republican National Committee is getting plenty of money that can help McCain.

Obama has had trouble handling large sums of money before. When he and unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers worked on Chicago's Annenberg Challenge to improve education, nearly $50 million was spent with very little to show for it.

It is good that we're finding out Obama's trouble with fiscal discipline now and not before he becomes president -- an event that now seems increasingly unlikely.

It is also fitting that Obama is now hoist by his own petard for breaking his promise to seek public funding. Obama cynically broke his promise for political advantage, but he would have been better off taking the money. It's a nice mini-morality play about the perils of lying.

WLS did a fine job of cutting through the numbers to tell the story, earlier than the MSM did. That's what can be done by someone who, unlike many in the MSM, isn't besotted with The Precious.

Go over to WLS at Patterico's, read the articles, and give your thanks.


Click Here To Comment!