Candidates and Campaign Finance

Obama recently announced he would not accept public funds for the general election. He cast aside an $85 million check in favor of raising all of the funds he needs. This is obviously his best choice. He has raised roughly $270 million from over 1.5 million people. Most of those people can give again, plus he has all of Hillary's donor base to tap. Most estimates have Obama outspending McCain in the general by as much as 4-1. An NBC anchor summed it up best by saying of the decision "Duh."

McCain has pounded Obama for breaking his promise to take public financing in the general if he did as well. He is trying to portray Obama as just another politician who breaks his word when it's convenient. There are two major problems with this strategy's effectiveness. First, no one outside of Washington cares about public financing. This has never been an issue that moves votes. Every year there are countless races where one opponent tries to make hay out of another opponent's money, and it never works. This issue has no legs. In the weeks following Obama's decision, it has had no press whatsoever. It's a dead issue, and Obama is the better for it.

Secondly, McCain will fail to win voters on this issue because he himself broke a campaign fincance law bearing his own name. (McCain-Feingold for those of you scoring at home). In the primary, when McCain was in dire straits, he announced he would accept public matching funds. This meant he would be limited to around $55 million until he was officially the nominee on Sept. 4 at the end of the RNC Convention. However, the FEC (Federal Election Commission) was unable to act because it did not have a quorum, and no monies were distributed to candidates. All the candidates who opted in to public matching funds took out loans on the promise that when the FEC finally acted, the loans would be repaid. McCain himself admits he took out a loan using the leverage of public matching funds. This by law locks him into the spending cap. Of course, when McCain became the defacto nominee, he pulled out of the public matching fund system so he could raise and spend as much as he needed to before his convention. Had he stuck to the spending cap, he would have been broke from sometime in March all the way till the convention. Obama would have crushed him on the airwaves and effectively won the race.

McCain is a hypocrite and liar for breaking his promise not to abide by the spending caps after using the promise of funds to get a loan. Obama may have artfully danced around his supposed promise to take general public financing, but McCain broke a law that he himself wrote. McCain's sin in this case is far worse than anything Obama may have done.

What do you think about the decisions made by Obama and McCain?