The Obama campaign announced late Monday evening that they will bow to the political realities of the 2012 election cycle and support Priorities USA, a pro-Obama Super PAC.
“We decided to do this because we can’t afford for the work you’re doing in your communities, and the grassroots donations you give to support it, to be destroyed by hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads,” Obama’s Campaign Manager Jim Messina said in an email to supporters. “The stakes are too important to play by two different sets of rules. If we fail to act, we concede this election to a small group of powerful people intent on removing the President at any cost.”
The announcement signals a major shift for Obama, an ardent critic of the controversial Supreme Court ruling that allowed political committees to accept unlimited campaign funds from corporations and unions.
Messina noted that while the campaign will encourage support for Priorities USA by sending high-profile campaign surrogates to fundraisers, the President will not make appearances for the committee, nor will Vice President Joe Biden or First Lady Michelle Obama.
