Quote:
Originally Posted by YOhio
Does this bother anybody?
If based solely on his opting out, it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I like the move. I don't particularly like taxpayers funding elections regardless of the minimal cost per person. As for his course reversal, it was to be expected. He is and will destroy McCain in fundraising and it was just too much money to turn down. He's taking heat right now for the broken promise, but in the long run it was the right strategic move.
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I actually like public funding, so I wish he would have kept with it instead of opting out. I don't like the amount of money involved in running for president, as it generally restricts the office to the ultra-wealthy. I understand the argument that candidates who have a lot of money do so because they are better candidates (people don't like to give money to bad candidates) so it can function as an additional mechanism to ensure the best candidate wins, but in reality that isn't necessarily the case given the amount of money that can be donated by large corporations and lobbying organizations through PACs, etc.
Obama isn't taking much of that money, and his money overwhelmingly is comprised of small donations from individuals. I have less of a problem with that. Nevertheless, my strong preference is to see money be less of an influence in a presidential election as opposed to more of an influence, and public funding accomplishes that to an extent.