Another example of Edwards' actions seeming perhaps hypocritical: The New York Times printed an article about the "independent political groups [who] are using their financial muscle and organizational clout as never before to influence the presidential race, pumping money and troops into early nominating states on behalf of their favored candidates."
According to the article, Edwards seems to be trying to have it both ways, criticizing the groups, while accepting their assistance:
Mr. Edwards, in particular, has made tightening such rules a cornerstone of his campaign, putting him in a delicate position as he denounces expenditures coming indirectly from some of his closest supporters, like locals of the service employees’ union.
On the campaign trail, Mr. Edwards has called on the groups, known as 527s for the section of the tax code they fall under, to stop running advertisements supporting him. But he has said he will not ask them directly
Mr. Edwards is also benefiting from more than $1.5 million from the Alliance for a New America, which has primarily been running a radio campaign in Iowa. While most of the money has come from service union locals, one big donation of $495,000 that came in last Friday was given by a longtime Edwards supporter.
And it turns out that Edwards himself set up one of these independent groups:
Mr. Edwards’s One America committee[is] a 527 committee he set up to fight poverty.
Don't get me wrong. As a supporter of free speech I'm on record as opposing the regulation of these groups on First Amendment grounds. But if Edwards is going to make attacking these groups a cornerstone of his campaign he should be working a lot harder to distance himself from them.
