Campaign Finance: Obama’s First Moment of Truth?

The lofty idealism of Obama Nation will face a litmus test if he becomes the Democratic nominee. He has said previously that he would accept public financing if the as then undetermined Republican opponent would do the same. That was before Obama raised $32 million this month alone and expanded his pool of campaign contributors to 650,000. Many of those people contribute online in small amounts so they can be repeatedly tapped for additional money at virtually no expense to the campaign.

John McCain upped the ante recently and said he would do just that. A strong advocate of campaign finance reform, McCain’s name (along with liberal democrat Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold) is on the most recent major campaign finance reform law. Sticking with his principles on this issue has cost McCain support within segments of his own party that view this as a restriction on First Amendment rights of free speech.

So if you’re Obama, what do you do? If he takes public financing, he agrees to restrict spending to about Candidates who accept public funding are eligible for about $85 million, which is tens of millions of dollars less than he is likely to raise privately. So far, Obama has not faced serious challenges in terms of matching his actions to his rhetoric. This issue could prove to be the first of many such ethical dilemmas and may provide some additional clues as to Obama’s priorities.

My guess is that if Obama is the democratic nominee, he’ll reject public financing, endure the hit on reversing himself and take the money. As vitally important as campaign finance reform is, it often seems as if there’s a serious disconnect on this issue with many voters. A lot of people seem to recoil at the idea that funding for a political campaign should come out of their pocket. They generally fail to see that the special interests with deep pockets that are now the lifeblood of a corrupt system cost them far more in the long run.

Perhaps Obama will surprise us, but I doubt it. He’s a good politician and in terms of balancing risks and benefits, this would be a very difficult juncture to side with ethics and reform rather than doing what it takes to win.

Hillary’s Letter to Me: Barack Obama is Made of $$$

Because I’m a glutton for punishment, last year I gave my email address to most of the presidential candidates. Not that they abuse the privilege, like only writing when they need something. This is the latest from Billary ’08:

"Let me tell you a little bit about the challenges we still face. Starting tomorrow, we have 10 more races in the month of February. Many of these contests play to my opponent's strong suits -- including his virtually unlimited funds."

So now Barack Obama has been cast in the role of Daddy Warbucks by Hillary Clinton.

Not that the Senator from Illinois hasn’t tried to put his hand in my pocket as well, but at least he appeals to my sense of being caught up in a historical movement as he tries to get me to add to my mountain of credit card debt to sponsor his noble quest to save America:

"So many people said we would never get here. But we're proving every day that ordinary people can still accomplish extraordinary things.

Thank you,

Barack"

To his credit, John McCain’s most recent letter to me raised an issue and didn’t ask for money. Like so many of my relationships based on email, he simply forwarded a
article he thought I would be interested in, which said in part, that I shouldn’t worry that he’s going to nominate anyone to the Supreme Court that’s likely to let a couple of guys in San Francisco burn a flag after they get married:

"We believe that the nomination of John McCain is the best option to preserve the ongoing restoration of constitutional government. He is by far the most electable Republican candidate remaining in the race, and based on his record is as likely to appoint judges committed to constitutionalism."
(Wall Street Journal)

I'm worried about my other buddies from the campaign trail. Haven’t heard from Joe, Chris, Rudy, Fred or any of the others recently. Hope they’re ok.