WASHINGTON: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama announced yesterday 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.
Obama, who called the current system “broken,” made the announcement on a web video that was e-mailed to his supporters and the media.
He will be the first presidential candidate to opt out of the current system since it was put in place after the Watergate scandal during the Nixon presidency.
Obama, who has already broken every fundraising record during the primary, said that because Republicans accept money from lobbyists, and given the influence of pressure groups, he decided not to accept more than the $84 million he would receive from public financing.
“The public financing of presidential elections, as it exists today, is broken, and we face opponents who have become masters at gaming this broken system,” Obama told reporters, adding that his was an “easy decision” for him.
Things being tough as they are in this presidential campaign, Republicans will likely seize on that decision to call the Illinois senator a hypocrite. Early in the campaign, Obama had indicated that he would accept public funding.
Obama’s decision will likely trigger a fundraising effort that will dwarf all previous campaigns.
Through May, Obama had raised about $265 million and the decision to not accept public funds will allow his maxed out primary donors to give $2,300 again.
Fundraising records show that Obama has received about a quarter of his money from individuals giving $2,000 or more.
Obama said McCain and the Republican National Committee are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and political action committees, which can raise unlimited amounts of money for television ads not controlled by campaigns. They are known as 527s for the section of the US tax code that governs such groups.
“And we’ve already seen that he’s not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations,” the Democratic presidential hopeful said.
