Martin Bashir Cheers Obama's Fundraising, Bashes GOP PAC Money

MSNBC's Martin Bashir on Thursday perfectly demonstrated the liberal media's hypocrisy concerning campaign finances.

After beginning his program gushing and fawning over all the money Barack Obama raised in the fourth quarter, Bashir proceeded to carp and whine about the funds GOP PACs are spending, even calling for campaign finance reform to curb it (video follows with transcript and commentary):

After the teaser, the show began with Bashir saying, "And we begin with President Obama fired up, ready to go, honing his reelection message, and with a formidable warchest to fight the Republican machine. New figures just out today showing that the President raked in $68 million in the last three months of the year."

With the graphic on the right proudly displayed, Bashir continued, "42 million for his campaign, 24 million for the DNC, and another cool mill for the Swing State Victory Fund that targets battleground states."

"The President's closest rival in the money race," said Bashir, "millionaire Mitt Romney raised just 24 million in the fourth quarter. Sorry, Mitt, but the President raised about a tenth of that just last night. Indeed, President Obama hit up Chicago for a little hometown love last night reminding his supporters of what the country faces from his Republican challengers."

As you can see, Bashir thinks Obama raising millions of dollars for his reelection and that of Democrats is just fine. He even chided Romney for not raising as much.

This was a consistent theme in Thursday's program, as he addressed this later in the show saying after a break, "The President is back in Washington today after a whirlwind trip to his hometown of Chicago swinging through three fundraisers and coming back $2 million the richer as his reelection fight draws near."

He elaborated minutes later to his guest, "Now the President raked in about 2 million last night with a fiery speech in Chicago...Is this him now really, fully engaging in the campaign?"

So fundraising is "fully engaging in the campaign" and is therefore a good thing - for Obama.

But that clearly wasn't the sentiment pertaining to Republican donors.

"Isn't the GOP as a whole really making an argument for campaign finance reform because of all that what's happened with Citizens United and the vast amounts of money that's being spent in this GOP primary season?" Bashir asked guest Ana Marie Cox in a later segment.

This was followed by Bashir saying to another guest minutes later, "Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Jon Huntsman each have a billionaire indirectly backing them. Hasn't the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling ushered this period of what we might call wealthy puppet masters?"

Speaking of puppet masters, Bashir chose not to inform his viewers about precisely how Obama quickly raised $2 million in Chicago this week. The Chicago Tribune did:

The president preached patience again at a $35,800 per couple dinner at the North Side home of campaign bundler, prominent Democratic donor and media mogul Fred Eychaner, the head of Newsweb Corp. [...]

A later reception scheduled for the Hyde Park home of Stuart Taylor, who heads the investment firm The Taylor Group, cost $7,500 per ticket.

Should people willing to spend $35,800 for dinner with the President or $7,500 to meet him be considered "wealthy puppet masters?"

Apparently not if that President is a Democrat.

And this is going to be the theme with the liberal media for the next ten months: Democrat fundraising is fine, but Republican fundraising is immoral, unethical and must be stopped.