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Obama Rejects Public Money

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The New York Times

Published: June 20, 2008

Citing the specter of attacks from independent groups on the right, Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, announced Thursday that he would opt out of the public financing system for the general election campaign.

His decision to break a pledge to take public money will likely transform the landscape of presidential campaigns, injecting hundreds of millions of additional dollars into the race and raising doubts about the future of public financing for national races.

In becoming the first major-party candidate to reject public financing and its attendant spending limits, Obama contended the public financing apparatus was broken and that his Republican opponents were masters at "gaming" the system and would spend "millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations" to smear him.

It is not clear at this point that Republicans will have the advantage in support from independent groups. In fact, the Democrats appear much better poised to benefit from such efforts.
Republican activists have been fretting about the absence so far of any major independent effort, comparable to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which helped undermine Sen. John Kerry's campaign in 2004, to boost Sen. John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, who has badly trailed Obama in raising money.

Obama's decision, which long had been expected given his record-breaking money-raising prowess during the Democratic primary season, was assailed by McCain, who confirmed Thursday that he would accept public financing.

"This is a big, big deal," said McCain, who was touring flood-stricken areas in Iowa. "He has completely reversed himself and gone back, not on his word to me, but the commitment he made to the American people."

Obama's advisers said Thursday they think that he could raise $200 million to $300 million for the general election campaign, not counting money raised for the Democratic National Committee, if he were freed from the shackles of accepting public money.

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