President Obama Makes U-Turn from Philadelphia Speech

Last night, President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign announced that it would support controversial super PAC fundraising, specifically that of Priorities USA Action. That news may come as a surprise to some of the people who gathered in North Philadelphia way back in October 2010, when the president gave a speech decidedly against super PACs. “You don’t know, it could be the oil industry, it could be the insurance industry, it could even be foreign-owned corporations,” Obama said of the murkiness of super PACs. “You don’t know because they don’t have to disclose. Now that’s not just a threat to Democrats, that’s a threat to our democracy.” Obama’s reversal came shortly after Priorities USA Action announced that it had raised a meager $4.4 million by December 31, 2011. By contrast, Mitt Romney-dedicated super PAC Restore Our Future raised more than six times that during the same period. [CNN]