Former White House Counsel, now AEI scholar, Peter J. Wallison comments about the "real significance of the Obama campaign's reversal on the use of super PAC":

• "Recently . . . the campaign has walked back the idea [of having the first billion dollar war chest], suggesting that while he was doing very well in his fundraising efforts, a billion-dollar campaign was never on their screen"
• "[T]he decision to endorse a super PAC may suggest that the Obama campaign's money problems are more serious than anyone had thought. In 2008, Obama raised almost $800 million, a record. If he were able to do just as well this year, he wouldn’t need a super PAC, but apparently his advisers have recognized that he will fall well short of the 2008 total."
• Wallison warns that "[d]espite the attention they have received in the media, super PACs are not always helpful to well-run campaigns and can seriously compromise campaign strategies and tactics."

Peter Wallison is the co-author (with Joel Gora) of Better Parties, Better Government: A Realistic Program for Campaign Finance Reform (AEI Press, 2009), and is reachable at pwallison@aei.org or through his assistant steffanie.hawkins@aei.org. For additional help or for other media inquiries, please email vrodman@aei.org (202.862.4871)

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