"Clinton, Obama and Edwards - They ALL PAY to PLAY!"

This marks a DUmmie FUnnies first. For the first time a Kewpie Doll is awarded to the DUmmie author of this THREAD for coming up with a title, "Clinton, Obama and Edwards - They ALL PAY to PLAY!" that displays a brief moment of mental clarity. What the DUmmie is referring to is a bidding war between Hillary, Obama, and Edwards for the "consulting services" of South Carolina state senator, Darrell Jackon, who just so happens to be a pastor of a 10,000 member megachurch. In 2003, John Edwards bought, oops, hired the services of Pastor Jackson and surprise, surprise, the good shepherd of the megasized flock, endorsed the Breck Girl. Lost in all this is how you NEVER hear the Democrats mentioning the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law any more. In the not too distant past, this law was hailed as the cure-all for minimizing the influence of money in politics. So what was the result of McCain-Feingold? Other than placing new restrictions on free speech, money is now more important than ever. In fact it is now all important as we can see in this bidding frenzy for the "services" of Pastor Jackson. So let us now watch the harsh money realities of post McCain-Feingold politics slap the DUmmies in the face in Bolshevik Red while the commentary of your humble correspondent, wondering what the going rate is for political "consulting services" of song writing Swedish Lutheran pastors, is in the [brackets]:

Clinton, Obama and Edwards - They ALL PAY to PLAY!

[Your Kewpie Doll is ON THE WAY!]

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet...

WASHINGTON -- South Carolina is a key primary state, and Democratic White House front-runners Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton competed to hire the same influential African-American consultant -- a state senator who is pastor of a 10,000-member megachurch.

[So nice to know the Democrats don't mix religion with politics.]

Clinton's campaign made a deal, worth at least $10,000 a month, with state Sen. Darrell Jackson's firm, Sunrise Enterprises. The contract surfaced when Jackson earlier this week endorsed Clinton for president without mentioning his company would be working for her.

[Did Jackson put his first $10,000 down payment in the freezer?]

But e-mail exchanges obtained by this column show how the Obama campaign tried to woo Jackson, who was also negotiating with former Sen. John Edwards.

[More bidding than on eBay.]

E-mail exchanges between Obama campaign adviser Steve Hildebrand and Jackson's sister Andrea McCoy, who handles his correspondence, provide a rare inside look at how these kinds of deals are cut.

[Barack the Virtuous...except when it comes to shady land deals and secret bidding for folks who can deliver the votes.]

• 7:40 a.m. Feb. 6. Hildebrand sent an e-mail to McCoy: "Senator, I spoke with David Ploufe, Barack's campaign manager about your contract and we agree to start it on March 15. I'm looking forward to working with you. I'm very glad you are on our team."

[Beward the Ides of March.]

• 6:39 p.m. Feb. 6. Hildebrand gets an e-mail from McCoy, asking for 48 hours before making a "definite commitment" to Obama. "He has received information of which I am not at liberty to discuss and is taking it into consideration."

[Let me guess. This received information was a counterbid from Terry McAwful of the Hillary camp.]

• 9:47 a.m. Feb. 7. Hildebrand e-mails McCoy, "I know that Senator Jackson and Barack spoke last night. Barack is very concerned about this and wants to ensure that he has Senator Jackson on his team. If Darrell has a concern about the contract we proposed, we need to make sure we work out these concerns."

[Translation: "Just tell us how much money we have to raise to meet or beat Hillary's offer."]

• 8:21 p.m. Feb. 7 Hildebrand writes, "I hope this is not problematic. I did leave the Senator a message a couple of hours ago. If there are questions he has, I hope that he will bring them to us. Barack needs his help and we take his possible support very seriously."

[If Barack needs his help, he needs to write a bigger check than Hillary did.]

Obama came in with $5,000 per month was almost accepted until Hillary came in with $10,000 per month....and won.

[Isn't it nice that Pastor Jackson is making his decisions based strictly on the platforms of the candidates?]

Edwards came in after the fact and doubled Hillary's offer, but was turned down, although he had paid and received the endorsement in 2004.

[We are sorry. The auction is now CLOSED.]

"The aide wrote that Jackson had not decided about which contract offer to accept. And the aide hinted to Hildebrand that Sunrise had received another offer for a consulting contract.

[Psst! You need to up the ante! Hint! Hint!]

In 2003, Sunrise was hired by Axelrod and Associates to advise on media buys and consult on strategy for Sen. John Edwards's campaign. David Axelrod, now an Obama adviser, was Edwards's media consultant in 2004. Sen. Jackson endorsed Edwards, who won the primary.

[WOW! What a surprise! Pastor Jackson endorsed Edwards after being hired as a consultant. And now Jackson has endorsed Hillary after his "services" were hired by her. What a coincidence! And now a comment from Pastor Jackson in 2004...]

Senator Darrell Jackson, D-Richland, who is also the pastor of Bible Way Church of Atlas Road, says that he "followed his heart" by advising his congregation he was voting for John Edwards. He said many Atlas Road members were searching for a candidate to vote for. Jackson says his intent was to let them know how he voted, not tell them to vote. "It would have been easier to go with (John) Kerry," Jackson told reporters, but Edwards stressed unifying America across economic lines to bring rich and poor together. "This is my guy, win or lose," says Jackson, who talked to Edwards by phone Tuesday morning. Whether he wins or loses in South Carolina, Edwards promises to come back to visit the Atlas Road congregation, Jackson says.

[Pastor Jackson of the Money Way Church always follows his "heart" when making political endorsements.]

I really hope the General runs. We need someone with some military background.

[This DUmmie must be referring to General Weasley Clark. I guess he hasn't figured out that the general is entirely Hillary's creation.]

This is scary to me.....that money buys votes in this really transparent way!

[Don't you just love the way McCain-Feingold is working out.]

I understand that this is the program....how it works..... I really just didn't realize how deep it goes, and the fact that money exchanges hands openly and such.

[A DUmmie's innocence is shattered.]

That's pretty much par for the course. And wait till you see the GOP dough. It makes our scratch look like chickenfeed.

[If the GOP tried to pull off this stunt, it would be MSM headline news featuring all sorts of outrage about mixing religion with politics.]

Wow.....and then faking like someone's endorsing you cause they like you..... but really its because you paid more money?

[If Breck Girl had been a little faster on doubling Hillary's bid, he could have gotten the pastor's sincere endorsement again.]

Money always talks. The guy wasn't choosing between a Democrat, a Libertarian, a Whig and a Republican, though. He was choosing between three Democrats who have much more in common, issue for issue, than they have differences. And he's gotta eat. And she has the best warchest, and he won't have to wait for his money. He's probably also calculating who will be able to pay the bill the longest, hang in the longest, and if she doesn't make it all the way, will be helpful in handing her machine over to the nominee because it never hurts to curry influence. That's how the game is played. Money talks. Everything else walks. It's always been that way.

[Without that Hillary "consulting services" money, the good pastor would have gone hungry.]

Got it! He's got to eat at the tune of $10,000 per month....

[Hey! Steak, lobster, and champagne doesn't come cheap.]

I don't know anyone who admits to endorsing the practice. They all sigh and call it a necessary evil, the way things have always worked, and oh, what a shame.

[So much for McCain-Feingold.]

but if he is a state senator, and he is selling his endorsement to the highest bidder, shouldn't he be fired from his senate position?

[Why don't you ask Hillary if she should be fired for making the bid in the first place?]

Problem for the this is evil crowd is that he is not selling his vote to highest offer - AP says there were 5 offers on the table with Hillary's not the highest. His endorsement was made before the offers were signed. He is known as a leader and his endorsement is sought by all. She PR firm is known as a quality shop and is likewise sought by all. His integrity is known as solid - so we are left with "it looks bad"

[The Good Pastor with the rock solid integrity.]

I always knew how much money was needed to run a successful campaign, & the more money you have, the better the chances. But silly me, I never knew they pay people who are able to swing huge numbers of voters. I also knew the fundies told their congregations who to vote for, but I've never seen a case this blatant. It's very sad, & I'm more cynical because of this story than I was before. And I was pretty cynical!

[DUmmie innocence shattered. It is such a comical sight to behold.]

Another thing, all this frontloading of primaries is nuts. The people with the most money & highest name recognition will have a huge advantage.

[Think Hillary.]

I just read that Hillary hired H. Reid's son as Harry is neutral and won't endorse her.

[And of course that hire has nothing to do with who the hired hand's father is.]

God I wish Hillary would go away. It sounds like she's literally buying all the primary states. Apparently she needs to spend millions to convince people she isn't an empty pant suit.

[How much will it cost to make you like Hillary?]

Hillary should not get all the heat on this. Obama was in the middle of doing the exact same thing. Edwards did the exact same thing in 2004 and was negotiating again for 2008, apparently. Both buying primaries just as Hillary was.

[LOUSY FREEPER TROLL!!!]

Even Mister Campaign Finance Reform is backing away from his own ideas and legislation. He wants to raise some serious money, he doesn't want to be at a disadvantage.

[So even McCain is backing away from McCain-Feingold.]

I thought campaign finance reform dealt with PACs and such....Didn't realize that ministers were for sale too. I understood that a favor might beget a favor later on down the line as a thank you or something. That I knew about. I just didn't know that folks actually bid on those that could endorse and that a bidding war could break out.....etc...

[BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Don't you just love the way campaign finance "reform" dealt with big money in politics?]

I don't like Edwards. I think he's a phony.

[Too late. We already awarded the Kewpie Doll at the get-go on this thread.]

Edwards should demand a retraction. If this is completely bogus. If he didn't have both a contract with and endorsement from Darryl Jackson in 2004 and was not negotiating a new deal for 2008 when Hillary took the ball, as reported.

[Yeah, Edwards will be demanding a retraction right around the time Kerry sends in his form 180.]

LOL - As the AP noted - 5 candidates were trying to both hire Jackson & get endorsement

[Who were the other two? Maybe Vilsack offered Pastor Jackson a bunch of Vilsack pickle jars.]

presumably these emails were provided by Obama and I wonder if any of Jackson's congregation will see these emails, and wonder about their pastor's endorsements...

[Jackson's congregation will wonder when their pastor will share the wealth.]

“If there was no contract, I’d still endorse Clinton,” Jackson said. “This was having thought about the process, who is best able to lead and, quite honestly, which Democrat I think will be strongest come November. It’s not about the contract.”

[Stated Pastor Jackson delivering his comedy routine from the stage of the Laugh Factory. (Note to Jamie Masada: I worked in a blatant pitch for your club.)]

We might as well have politicians offer their endorsements on E-Bay, at least that's out in the open for all to see.

[I LOVE that idea. I figure Pastor Jackson could start the eBay bidding at $5000 with a Buy It Now price of $20,000 for his endorsement. Oh, free shipping with purchase.]

However, there's something tacky and tasteless about preaching God's word on one hand and endorsing a presidential candidate that later hires your company for consulting services.

[Only to be publicly condemned by the MSM if a Republican is on the receiving end of such an endorsement.]

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