Obama Adopts A Clintonian Tactic

February 8, 2008 – 10:25 am

“I’ll just say that I’ve released my tax returns. That’s been a policy I’ve maintained consistently. I think the American people deserve to know where you get your income from. But I’ll leave it up to you guys to chase it down. I’ve disclosed my income tax returns. I think we set the bar in terms of transparency and disclosure that has been a consistent theme of my campaign and my career in politics. I don’t have enough money to drop $5 million into a campaign.”

Senator Obama responding to reporters when asked whether he would call on the Clintons to release their tax returns, Obama stopped short of saying they should.

I agree on the point about transparency and disclosure but these types of requests should be made to the Clinton campaign directly by the still-asleep-at-the-wheel mainstream media, not passive-aggressively through Obama in a predictable attempt to stir up a little more juice in the coverage of the campaign. Unfortunately, the parent companies of our major media outlets are in bed with both of the major parties, depriving the voters of being able to fairly examine our politicians and hold them accountable for their words and acts beyond election day. Maybe a President McCain will return his focus to campaign finance reform and fundamentally change the relationship between politicians, campaign donors and lobbyists.

It is much more inappropriate for one candidate to make requests about tax returns to another - a tactic similar to those regularly employed by his rival in the Democratic race. The media should do its job instead of asking Obama to do it for them.