2.08.2007
Obama Proposes Candidates limit General Election Spending (NYTimes.com)
By DAVID K. KIRKPATRICK
Published: February 8, 2007
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 — Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, issued an unusual challenge to his rivals on Wednesday. He proposed a voluntary agreement between the two major party nominees that would limit their fund-raising and spending for the general election.
Mr. Obama’s suggestion is notable because the 2008 presidential election is widely expected to be the first campaign since President Richard M. Nixon left office that would be paid for mainly by private donors and waged without legal spending limits.
For the first time in 30 years, the leading candidates in both major parties have indicated that they will not accept public money through the presidential public financing system so that they will not be bound by its spending limits. In previous general elections, the system provided all the money for both major party candidates on the condition that they did not take private contributions.
But the money the public system is expected to provide in 2008 — about $150 million for a candidate’s primary contests, nominating convention and general election campaign — cannot keep up with the flow of private contributions available to the candidates. If the previous patterns hold, the two major party candidates in 2008 could each raise more than $500 million from private contributors, overpowering a nominee who chose to abide by the public financing rules.
Those calculations have already set off a furious fund-raising scramble as well-financed candidates, notably Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, try to stockpile enough early money to scare off competition.
In a Feb. 1 filing with the Federal Election Commission that was made public on Wednesday, Mr. Obama said that he, too, would seek enough private donations to remain competitive, but with a twist. He asked the commission if he could begin soliciting private donations with the understanding that he might later return the money to his contributors. If he won the Democratic nomination, he could then strike a deal with the Republican nominee to return their private donations and use only public money for the general election. For 2008, that would limit each general election campaign to about $85 million.
(More ... New York Times > Politics)
Published: February 8, 2007
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 — Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, issued an unusual challenge to his rivals on Wednesday. He proposed a voluntary agreement between the two major party nominees that would limit their fund-raising and spending for the general election.
Mr. Obama’s suggestion is notable because the 2008 presidential election is widely expected to be the first campaign since President Richard M. Nixon left office that would be paid for mainly by private donors and waged without legal spending limits.
For the first time in 30 years, the leading candidates in both major parties have indicated that they will not accept public money through the presidential public financing system so that they will not be bound by its spending limits. In previous general elections, the system provided all the money for both major party candidates on the condition that they did not take private contributions.
But the money the public system is expected to provide in 2008 — about $150 million for a candidate’s primary contests, nominating convention and general election campaign — cannot keep up with the flow of private contributions available to the candidates. If the previous patterns hold, the two major party candidates in 2008 could each raise more than $500 million from private contributors, overpowering a nominee who chose to abide by the public financing rules.
Those calculations have already set off a furious fund-raising scramble as well-financed candidates, notably Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, try to stockpile enough early money to scare off competition.
In a Feb. 1 filing with the Federal Election Commission that was made public on Wednesday, Mr. Obama said that he, too, would seek enough private donations to remain competitive, but with a twist. He asked the commission if he could begin soliciting private donations with the understanding that he might later return the money to his contributors. If he won the Democratic nomination, he could then strike a deal with the Republican nominee to return their private donations and use only public money for the general election. For 2008, that would limit each general election campaign to about $85 million.
(More ... New York Times > Politics)
Labels: 2008 election, Campaign Finance, New York Times, Obama
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