McCain Set to Take the Federal Financing Plunge
John McCain, shown here speaking on Capitol Hill Tuesday, is expected to accept public financing for the general election campaign. (AP Photo)
John McCain is on to track to become the first presidential candidate to accept public financing in the 2008 general election, which would allow him access to $84 million in taxpayer funds as long as he agrees to not raise or spend outside funds beyond that.
Advisers to the presumptive Republican nominee have confirmed to FOX News that McCain will likely accept the public financing, and that he sees it as more than sufficient to carry his general election campaign for two months, which is how long the public financing would be in effect.
But on Wednesday, McCain did not pledge to take the funds, saying Barack Obama hasn’t suggested he would also abide by federal financing limits associated with public spending.
“To us, we’ll obviously keep our promise, and that is that if Obama commits to public financing , then we will too. The point is that I made a promise and so did he, and apparently he may not keep his. One of the things we want to change in Washington is, when I’m president, I will keep my promises. Apparently he won’t,” McCain told FOX News.
With a presumed limit on his ability to collect cash, McCain supporters are being asked to send their donations to the Victory Committee, a joint fundraising vehicle with the Republican National Committee, which hopes to raise $120 million and use the funds towards electing McCain. Individual donors can give up to $30,800 to the Victory Committee — $2,300 of that for McCain’s primary campaign and the rest for the RNC. Whatever is left after the September convention can be used for getting McCain elected president.
Election analysts say the move is not altogether bad for McCain, or unprecedented. McCain is not limited in the amount of money he can help raise for the RNC, which in turn can spend unlimited amounts of cash on his general election bid, said Michael Malbim, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute in Washington, D.C.
“It’s more or less wise,” Malbin said. “The candidate is fully allowed to raise money for the party and the party can spend as much as the candidate raises, as long as they don’t coordinate it.”
As long as the party is willing to spend the money, it can infuse McCain’s bid, much like the RNC did during President George Bush’s 2004 campaign. Both he and Democratic candidate John Kerry received $74 million in federal grants that year.
Observers point out that McCain has no doubt seen the writing on the wall: according to reports, he raised $15 million in March, compared to Democratic rivals Obama and Hillary Clinton, who raised $40 million and $20 million in the same period respectively. For McCain, his March tallies would bring his total fundraising numbers to $75 million, compared to $234 million for Obama, and $175 million for Clinton.
“I think the point is, he has had a hard time raising money, even now, and I think part of the reason is - whether it turns out to be true or not - the smart money thinks this is going to be a Democratic year, not a Republican year, so there isn’t a lot of money flowing to Republicans,” said Bruce Merrill, a political science professor at Arizona State University who has been following McCain’s career since his days in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“(McCain’s campaign) has probably done a calculus and realizes they would probably get as much out of federal financing as they would without,” he said.
With Obama showing unprecedented fundraising prowess throughout his own primary, it is not clear now if he would be interested in taking the federal financing pledge and its accompanying limits if he were to get the nomination. Nor is it clear whether Clinton would, if she were to win the nomination. The two are locked in a tight primary battle that Democrats hope will be decided before the August convention, in part so that they can begin their general election campaigning — and spending.
Obama’s indecision has given the McCain camp an opening to nudge the Illinois senator. Last week, McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds e-mailed a statement to Marc Ambinder, associate editor of The Atlantic, noting that “five months ago Barack Obama personally and publicly declared that he would accept public financing if the Republican nominee did as well. As the McCain campaign moves toward the option of public financing, we hope Senator Obama will keep faith with his pledge to the American people.”
The Obama campaign has told reporters that he never “pledged” to accept public funds in the general election despite earlier reports that suggest he had toyed with the idea, as long as the eventual GOP nominee did too. In addition, the Obama campaign has criticized McCain for backing out of matching funds for the primary campaign once his faltering bid gained new life this year.
On Wednesday, Obama reportedly told guests at a high-priced Washington, D.C., fundraiser that other forms of campaign financing work as well as public funding.
“We have created a parallel public financing system where the American people decide if they want to support a campaign they can get on the Internet and finance it, and they will have as much access and influence over the course and direction of our campaign that has traditionally been reserved for the wealthy and the powerful,” Obama is quoted saying, according to ABC News.
Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Obama was “talking about the grassroots nature of our fundraising and how we are funded by over a million people making an average contribution of less than $100.” She said a decision about public funding won’t be made until or unless Obama is the nominee.
“We are still in a fierce contest and will not abide by a lecture on this from John McCain, who took out a loan and gained ballot access attesting he would be in the primary funding system. The FEC has raised serious questions about this and the McCain campaign continues to flagrantly ignore these serious issues raised about their conduct,” she said.
“The politics are fascinating,” said Rob Ritchie, executive director of FairVote, formerly the Center for Voting and Democracy. “Historically, Republicans have been able to raise more money than Democrats in these races, but Obama has been showing such fundraising capability that McCain knows he would be outspent.”
But Republicans have a reputation of working well together in an election crunch, and a RNC boon can translate into big benefits for McCain, who is expected to be nominated officially at the convention. The RNC reportedly has $25 million in the bank leading up to that event, compared to $4.8 million on hand for the Democratic National Committee.
FOX News’ Mosheh Oinounou and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
If you vote McCain, you mite as well reques Bush to stay another term. No Changes!
This just shows how weak a candidate John McCain really is. The man cannot even raise the money for his campaign much less pay his staff. Both Dems are destroying him in fundraising.
Obama 08