Obama Campaign Breaks Pledge, Meets $20 Million Demand Of California Superdelegate

In May, news agencies and voters were stunned when Steven Ybarra, a prominent member of the DNC and California Superdelegate promised his vote to the candidate who would commit $20 million to him for use in Hispanic Outreach programs. Following a rash of negative news stories, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton denounced the demands of Ybarra and pledged that neither would meet his demands.

Just two months after the story broke; the Obama campaign has apparently rescinded their pledge and met the demands of Ybarra. On Tuesday, Barack Obama and Howard Dean announced that they would commit $20 million to be used for Hispanic Outreach Programs and Voter Registration Drives. The money committed to the project will be used by the DNC’s Hispanic Caucus and will be controlled by the Hispanic Outreach and Voter Registration Committee.

Heading up the DNC Hispanic Caucus’ Outreach & Voter Registration Committee is committee Chair Steven Ybarra.

The DNC & Obama campaign certainly cannot be criticized for the commitment of the funds to the outreach programs. However, the timing of the announcement is peculiar considering that Obama & Dean could have waited until after Democratic Convention which is just 3 weeks away. Considering that Obama has come under quiet scrutiny from within his party and vocal scrutiny from former Clinton fundraisers and supporters, one would question the timing considering that he is not yet the nominee of his party. The move by the Obama campaign in breaking another campaign pledge is certain to raise even greater concerns and outrage from former Clinton supporters committed to defeating Obama.

I personally would like to congratulate Ybarra, who first proposed his $20 million idea last November only to be shunned by the DNC and Presidential campaigns. Through careful timing and the promise of a valuable SuperDelegate vote, he was able to extort the money he wanted.

J Brown
July 31, 2008
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