`No money till you keep your word,' fans tell Obama
5 Jul 2008, 1534 Hrs

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New York, July 5 (ANI): Stop giving money to Barack Obama! Don't volunteer for him! That's the biting message from some unhappy precincts of Obama Nation.

A New York Obama backer disenchanted with the Democratic candidate's post-primary lurch to the Centre Thursday launched an Internet campaign urging the likeminded to withhold campaign donations until Obama lives up to his promises.

"He shouldn't take us for granted - he shouldn't just assume we're just an ATM machine," said Bob Fertik, founder of Democrats.com, a group of self-described progressive activists.

"We're enthusiastic about him, but our level of financial commitment is going to depend on his level of leadership on the issues that we care about," The New York Daily News quoted him, as saying.

Fertik is fired up over Obama's decision to support counter-terrorism legislation granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies that complied with President Bush's warrant-less wiretapping program.

While that issue tops many supporters' complaint lists, Obama's comments on gun rights, capital punishment and Israeli-Palestinian policy have also shaken his fan base.

Jake Barlow of San Francisco, who donated 2,000 dollars to Obama and travelled to Texas to campaign for him, said he has called off plans to give 2,600 dollars more and work as a volunteer in a fall battleground state. His reason for sitting on his hands and wallet is the wiretapping flap.

"I thought Barack Obama was different," Barlow, 40, said. "He's now starting to look like a vacillating, flip-flopping politician, and I just can't in good conscience support that."

Glenn Greenwald, a writer for Salon.com, said, he, too, won't donate a dime to Obama.

"Obama is jeopardizing himself by fundamentally abandoning his values and positions and angering his supporters," he said.

Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for Obama, did not respond Thursday to an inquiry from the Daily News. (ANI)