June 20, 2008 05:29 PM UTC

Breaking the shackles?

• 2 Comments
• by: AuroraDem

I hope I’m reading too much into this, but today I was struck by a phrase in a Denver Post article. In a republished New York Times piece, the author says:

Obama’s advisors said Thursday that they believed he could raise $200 million to $300 million for the general election campaign,… if he were freed from the shackles of accepting public money.

Freed from the shackles? That seems to be a strange expression in this context, especially coming from Obama’s advisors. It almost appears this reference to slavery is implying that public campaign finance is just another way for the “white man” to keep Obama down. Was this  Obama’s handlers intent to draw this comparison and play the race card or the author’s words? Either way, it doesn’t seem to be appropriate.