Priorities USA Action co-founder defends Obama’s super PAC

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Bill Burton on Wednesday defended President Barack Obama’s support for his own super PAC, even though the president opposes the controversial organizations in general.

Burton is the co-founder and senior strategist of the Priorities USA Action, a super PAC that supports Obama.

“At the end of the day, we don’t have a choice about what the rules are right now,” he said on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. “The Supreme Court made it’s decision.”

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling in January 2010 gave rise to super PACs, officially known as independent-expenditure only committees. The organizations can raise an unlimited amount of money to influence federal elections, so long as they do not directly coordinate with a candidate’s campaign.

During his State of the Union speech in 2010, Obama criticized Supreme Court justices for “opening the floodgates” to special interest cash with their ruling.

But Obama’s campaign has reversed course in 2012, encouraging rich Democratic donors to get involved in super PACs.

“People think that Santorum and Gingrich’s campaigns wouldn’t have survived up until this point without super PACs, but the truth is, Mitt Romney wouldn’t even still be in this race if it weren’t for his super PAC,” Burton said.

Watch video, courtesy of Current TV, below: