Will White House ask donors to max out?

The White House wouldn’t say Thursday whehter President Obama would use Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision on campaign financing to solicit donations from those who would have maxed out under existing rules.

The White House denounced the 5-4 ruling overturning caps on aggregate campaign giving, but press secretary Jay Carney didn’t rule out the president hitting up high-dollar donors to max out on behalf of Democratic candidates.

{mosads}“We’re talking about a ruling that came down yesterday. And you know, I think that our folks are digesting it,” Carney said. “So I just don’t have any new information  or new positions along those lines to raise with you today.”

Obama has called for campaign finance reform and harshly criticized the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case that allows unlimited contributions to super-PACs.

2024 Election Coverage

• 2024 Election News
• 2024 Election Polling Data
• 2024 Presidential Election Forecast

But he also supported fundraising for a super-PAC during his 2012 campaign.

“With so much at stake, we can’t allow for two sets of rules in this election whereby the Republican nominee is the beneficiary of unlimited spending and Democrats unilaterally disarm,” Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said at the time. 

Under Wednesday’s ruling, the $123,200 limit on what an individual can give to candidates and committees is dead. It means a donor could cut a maximum $3.6 million check to a joint fundraising committee that distributes money to candidates and committees.