Obama’s top campaign contributors were largely indifferent to statements that he will pursue super PACs sponsorship, however, his campaign remains cautious. The Wall Street Journal first reported the fallout from Obama’s decision.
Big names donating to the Obama campaign include Haim Saban, an Israeli-American music and media executive, DreamWorks Animation Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenburg, and businessman Chales Brinks.
Saban contributed to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008, and only recently endorsed Obama. Saban has been a critic of Obama’s policies regarding Israel, but he is considering donating to the pro-Obama super PAC, the Journal reported.
“We are looking at all the super PACs at the moment, will surely participate, but haven’t decided on the details,” Haim said in a statement released Tuesday.
Katzenburg gave the largest single donation to Obama in 2008 — approximately $2 million.
Florida businessman Charles Brinks has contributed heavily to Obama in the past but has yet to determine whether he’ll contribute in 2012. Obama’s change of heart on super PACs will not influence his decision to give, he said.
“Am I going to increase the level of donations my family makes? No. We’ll do what we do irrespective of this decision,” Brinks said, according to the Journal.
Orin Kramer, a top Obama fundraiser, commented on Obama’s decision to accept super PAC donations, attributing the about-face to “[the disadvantage] in their inability to have any connectivity with the Democratic Party.”
“If President Obama had fixed presidential public financing — as he pledged to do in 2008 — and seriously gone to bat for more transparency in campaign spending, our political system would be healthier and this would be less of an issue,” Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, a group that advocates for government accountability, told the Journal.