DNC chairwoman on taking super-PAC money: 'We cannot unilaterally disarm'

The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) defended President Obama on Thursday for his decision to support contributions to a top Democratic super-PAC.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said Democrats have to work within the system, blaming Republicans for taking advantage of the rules.

"We cannot unilaterally disarm" in the current campaign climate, she said on CNN. "The Republicans have several million dollars in super-PAC money."

The Republican National Committee has slammed Obama for "flip-flopping" on the topic after criticizing the use of "big money" in politics and the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision that made super-PACs legal.

"He remains strongly against the Citizens United decision that created these super-PACs and created an opaque process where you have hundreds of millions of dollars that are dumped into campaigns with no transparency," Wasserman Schultz said.

The Obama reelection campaign on Monday night announced its support of Priorities USA, a top Democratic super-PAC allowed to raise unlimited funds.

"This doesn't mean that we believe this is the best way for the system to function," David Axelrod, a top Obama campaign strategist, said Tuesday on MSNBC. "The president's going to continue to fight for ways to reform that system in the future, but that's not going to happen in this campaign, and we have to live in the world as it is, not as we want it to be." 

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