Barack Obama, who once said he’d accept public financing and the accompanying spending limits in the fall election campaign, now says he’ll forgo the relative pittance of $84 million in public funds in favor of raising as much as three times that on his own.
So what’s the big deal?
For months Obama has been campaigning as the candidate of change. Now, he’s proven his point by changing his mind!
Seriously, we can’t blame him.
Obama’s switcheroo has allowed Republican rival John McCain and the pundits to pummel him for a few days but somehow we doubt those bruises will offset the advantage of having a possible quarter-billion-dollar war chest this fall.
The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken on this point — money is free speech. Thus, deciding whether to take the limited public funds, or to try for more on your own is chiefly a guess at which course will raise the most speech, er, cash.
For Obama, it’s an easy call. By the end of April he had amassed more than $265 million in contributions from 1.5 million donors. If he matches that effort this fall, he’s in line for an unbelievable half-billion-dollar overall campaign.
McCain, by contrast, raised only $115 million by the end of May. For him, the hassle of spending much of the coming months in an effort to surpass the $84 million in public funds just isn’t worth it.
We certainly don’t begrudge McCain casting himself as a virtuous supporter of public financing as he belabors Obama. But McCain has been on both sides of this issue, as well.
He eschewed public financing in the primary. But when his campaign ran into cash trouble, he borrowed $1 million from a Bethesda bank two weeks before the New Hampshire primary by pledging to enter the public financing system if his bid for the presidency faltered, thus using the possibility of such funds as collateral.
Obama’s decision is bad news for the Denver host committee for the Democratic National Convention because Obama won’t be raising any “soft money” donations to help fill the committee’s $11 million shortfall. The host committee is on the hook for $40.6 million to help pay for the four-day shindig.
Obama may shy away from such direct help now, but there’s still a way he can ease Denver’s squeeze. Most of his 1.5 million donors have given small amounts but at least some wealthy backers have reached the $4,600 federal contribution limit, $2,300 for the primary campaign and $2,300 for the general.
Obama still could send a special appeal to those “maxed-out” donors inviting them to help finance the Denver convention.
If not, it could be one scaled-back party. But really, is that so bad?
$300 million Amount Obama’s camp believes it can raise just for the general election
$74.6 million Amount that George Bush and John Kerry each received in public money for 2004 general election
$673.9 million Amount all 2004 candidates raised for primary election.
Source: New York Times/Federal Election Commission
