Obama Opts Out of Public Financing

Obama's argument about 527s honestly seems disingenuous. There is as much money for 527s on the left as on the right, and Obama never really attempted to reach an agreement with McCain on 527s.

However, while he has reversed his decision to accept public financing, he has not reversed his commitment to taking power from special interest lobbyists and PACs.

Obama does not accept money from lobbyists or PACs. His average donor gives around $200. The point of public financing is to remove special interest money from politics. The more money that can be raised from small donors, without raising any money from lobbyists and PACs, the less influence special interests will have.

Public financing offers a decent incentive of $80 million to refuse special interest money. That's good, but it can be exceeded with traditional fundraising. If Obama's fundraising model offers a $300 million incentive to refuse special interest money, that's even better because traditional lobbyist and PAC sources can't compete with it. Also, the model is applicable to campaigns at all levels, whereas federal financing is only applicable to presidential campaigns.

Because a large network of small donors is a more powerful competitor to special interests, it is preferable to public financing as a way to return power to ordinary Americans. Also, it saves the treasury money!