no big surprise, but he just formally announced it this morning. earlier in the primaries, before
he became the messiah, he had pledged to accept public financing, and not raise private funds,
which he condemned as subject to graft, corruption, and the ever present and totally evil, "special
interests".
mccain is going to get swamped. obama can raise $40 million a month. mccain, who is in all likelihood
going to accept public financing, is capped at $84 million for the election.
the identity of these mysterious "small donors" that make up his hundreds of millions of dollars in
campaign funds is completely unknown. we don't know who they are, or what their motivation is.
his private financing, the anonymity the people that have made up this mountain of money, and what
secret influence they may wield over him, would all make a fantastic campaign issue, if it wasn't for the
fact that the law that allow this anonymous pile of money is called . . . mccain-feingold.
Obama won’t accept public financing
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) announced Thursday morning that he will not accept public financing for the general election, a move that will give him a major advantage over Republican standard-bearer Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).
Obama, who called the current system broken, made the announcement via a web video that was sent out to his supporters and the media.
The Illinois senator, who has already shattered every fundraising record during the primary, said because Republicans accept money from lobbyists, and given the influence of outside 527 groups, he has decided not to accept the more than $84 million he would receive from public financing.
Republicans have foreshadowed their attacks on Obama’s decision, and they will likely seize on that decision to call the Illinois senator a hypocrite. Early in the campaign, the Democrat had indicated that he would accept public funding.
The move could open the door to a fundraising effort that will dwarf all previous campaigns. Through May, Obama had raised about $265 million dollars and the decision to not accept public funds will allow his maxed out primary donors to give $2,300 again. In addition, experts expect that the campaign will receive an additional shot in the arm from donors who supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).
Fundraising records show that Obama has received about a quarter of his money from individuals giving $2,000 or more.
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