Washington – The Federal Election Commission has unanimously approved a request that it hopes will be the first step toward revitalizing public financing of presidential campaigns.
The panel acted on a request by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who wants to be able to stockpile private donations but then rely on public financing for the general election if he is the Democratic presidential nominee and his Republican opponent agrees to do the same. If he opted for the public financing, he would then return the private money to donors.
Experts estimate that 2008 could be the first presidential race in which campaign spending exceeds $1 billion by the two major-party candidates. That could happen if neither nominee accepts public funding for both the primary and general elections, the first time since public financing began more than 30 years ago that the public money would be untouched.
Candidates can raise millions more in private donations than they would receive if they chose the $85 million public-funding allotment with tighter spending limits.
“We all know that the public financing system rests on a fragile base,” said Commissioner Hans von Spakovsky.
The commissioners said they hope the ruling will maintain a measure of flexibility for candidates so that public funding could still be a viable option.
The FEC gave Obama a thumbs- up to raise private donations for a potential general-election campaign on several conditions, including that the money remain untouched in a separate bank account. If Obama decided to accept public funding, he would have 60 days to refund donors.
Obama said his decision to use public funding would depend on the GOP nominee agreeing to do likewise. Obama told the FEC he wants to start collecting private donations in the event his opponent declines public funding.
