Obama to say no to public poll financing

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-20  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

UNITED States Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said yesterday he will bypass the federal public financing system in the general election, abandoning an earlier commitment to take the money if his Republican rival did as well.

Obama, who set records raising money in the primary election, will forgo more than US$84 million that would have been available to him in the general election. Candidates who accept public financing cannot raise money from donors for the general election.

Obama would be the first candidate to do so since Congress passed 1970s post-Watergate campaign finance laws. Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee in waiting, has taken steps to accept the public funds in the general election.

Obama officials said they decided to take that route because McCain is already spending privately raised funds toward the general election campaign.

Obama has raised vast amounts more than McCain, however, and would likely retain that advantage if McCain accepts the public money.

The public finance system is paid for with the US$3 contributions that taxpayers can make to the presidential fund in their tax returns.

"It's not an easy decision, and especially because I support a robust system of public financing of elections," Obama told supporters in a video message yesterday.

"But the public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken, and we face opponents who've become masters at gaming this broken system," Obama added.

Obama said his Republican opponent, Senator John 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," Obama said.