Obama shuns public campaign funds
Obama yesterday said he was forgoing more than $80 million in public financing for his White House campaign, leaving him free to tap unlimited private cash against John McCain.
“We’ve made the decision not to participate in the public-financing system for the general election,” Obama said in a video message to his supporters.
The Democrat had pledged last year to work “aggressively” with the Republicans on a deal to preserve public financing, under which candidates limit their spending in return for matching funds from the federal Treasury.
“It’s not an easy decision, and especially because I support a robust system of public financing of elections,” said the Illinois senator, who becomes the first presidential candidate to forgo Treasury money for the general election.
But Obama said the finance system was “broken” and that every resource was needed to beat the Republicans in November’s election.
Obama has raised a stunning $265.4m so far in his bid for the presidency, smashing all records for this stage of the race, fuelled by more than 1.5 million small donors who have given repeatedly over the internet.
The Illinois senator said his online operation has become a grassroots alternative to the Washington system of financing, under which presidential candidates taking public money are limited to spending about $85m during the general election season.
McCain, who badly lags Obama in fundraising and says he is likely to take Treasury money, has accused Obama of breaking his “word” to voters over public financing.
The Democrat says he never made such a pledge, merely promising last year to consider the public limits in cooperation with the Republicans. In his video message, he said the stakes were too high to let the Democrats be hampered this year.
“John McCain’s campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) are fuelled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs (political action committees),” he said.
