Obama Opts Out of Public Financing
Barack Obama Opts Out of Public Financing — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)
Here is some of what bloggers are saying…
From Wizbang Blue…
Despite the fact that so far John McCain has been unable to manage a campaign anywhere near the level of the Obama organization in either ability or management skills, McCain continues to make the case that he should somehow be the manager of the entire country as president. That’s a big pill to swallow from someone who never even managed a business or anything any larger than just some political office in Washington. Obama is facing political reality that the current system of financing a run for public office is broken, while McCain is not. The public financing of campaigns is a broken system where the independent 527s still rule the airwaves. Obama has little choice but to oppose public financing and run his campaign under his own set of reforms until congress seriously repairs the political system.
From Media Mouse…
Last Thursday, Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama announced that his campaign was opting out of the federal public financing system for the general election system. While he will not receive the $84 million in federal funding that he would have otherwise received, he will instead be able to raise an unlimited amount of money. Obama’s campaign says that they were forced to make this decision because the system is broken and that the Republican Party has been able to manipulate the system to its advantage. Obama–who pledged to accept public funding last year–is the first major party candidate to opt out of the system.
On today’s episode of Democracy Now!, representatives from the Center for Responsive Politics and Americans for Campaign Reform discussed the decision. Nieither offered much criticism of Obama’s decision. Instead, they both talked about inherent flaws in the public financing system and the fact that $84 million is “not enough” money to run a presidential campaign.
From MotherJones Blog…
The McCain campaign has sharply criticized Barack Obama’s decision to become the first general election presidential candidate since the 1970s to opt out of the public financing system, a decision Obama can afford because of his stunning success with hundreds of thousands of low-dollar donors. As David notes at the link above, the McCain campaign said Obama’s decision “undermines his call for a new type of politics.”
But McCain, a longtime foe of Big Money in politics, once had a friendlier view of presidential fundraisers like Obama.
Here he is on the Fox News show “On the Record,” in January 2004: (read full post)
Also See:
Jason Linkins at The Huffington Post
What do you think about Obama opting out of public financing? Will it help or hurt his campaign.
