Five Reasons Obama May Have Changed His Mind About Super PACs

Obama's fundraising principles are like Newt Gingrich's wives. He sticks by them until a flashy new way to raise money walks into his life.

Back in 2008, he reversed his position on public financing. In his 2010 State of the Union address, he criticized the Citizen's United decision. Now he's changed his mind and embraces super PACs.

Maybe we're being too cynical, and there's some perfectly reasonable explanation for his reversal. Here are a few possibilities…

1. Visit from Ghost of Election's Future

Maybe a Dickensian ghost visited Barack Obama in the middle of the night and showed him a future where Mitt Romney was president and he made it a law that everyone had to wear slacks to the beach. That'd scare anyone into turning their back on what they believed!

2. All the Money Was Lonely

Obama is a compassionate conservative liberal. Priorities USA Action Committee (which sounds like what they call the G.I. Joe team in Japan) and other Democrat super PACs only raised $19 million dollars last year. Everyone knows money needs a vibrant community of at least $40 million in order to achieve an ideal ecosystem.

3. Karl Rove Dared Him To

Karl Rove backs American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, the two most successful Super PACS, which combined raised $51 million. Raising money is the rich person way of saying, "I double dog dare you." And they're expected to bring in $500 million over the course of 2012. That's enough money to buy Karl Rove a house big enough to fit his entire head.

4. All the Cool Kids Are Doing It

Running a campaign on "Hope" and "Change" is so 2008. Obama is taking a page from his Republican cohorts this time around and allowing an unlimited source of money viciously attack his opponents without it being directly connected back to him. Obama's charming smile is only effective if we all still like him.

5. Stephen Colbert Talked Him Into It

This one actually makes the most sense.

Previously: Obama Has Miraculous Change of Heart About Unlimited Donations

Photos by Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images, George Marks/Retrofile/Getty Images, Mark Wilson/Getty Images News/Getty Images, Marc Piscotty/Getty Images News/ Getty Images, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Barack Obama, Karl Rove, Mitt Romney, Stephen Colbert, Super PACs