Is this really 7 days old? Why have I not heard about this? This is big-time crazy, and will be on Drudge, I bet, or all over major newspapers soon….
How many of these stories has the politico broke, and is the date on the link accurate? From 7 days ago?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7494.html
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By: Kenneth P. Vogel
Dec 20, 2007 01:03 PM EST
The Federal Election Commission, facing imminent crippling over a confirmation stalemate, on Thursday approved more than $19 million in matching taxpayer money for seven cash-strapped presidential candidates.
“Democrat John Edwards will get $8.8 million in federal funds, and Republican John McCain $5.8 million.
…
“On the other hand, McCain, an Arizona senator, has ‘not made a decision on matching funds,’ said spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker, who added the campaign hasn’t borrowed against anticipated matching funds.
…
“The matching fund program provides up to $250 in taxpayer money for each donation from an individual, with the maximum amount a candidate could receive currently estimated to be about $21 million.
“But it’s seen as a trade-off, since it also caps at about $50 million the amount of cash campaigns can spend during the primary.”
Maybe this hasn’t been all over the news because not everyone understands it. Since the primary election technically ends after the Republican convention’s conclusion on September 4, Sen. McCain will be essentially be unable to spend virtually any money throughout the summer of 2008. Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic discussed the scenario earlier this year:
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/07/mccain_the_matching_fund_quand.php
“A minefield awaits Sen. John McCain if he asks his campaign to accept federal matching funds for the primary.
“There are two significant limitations that come with the roughly $6M that the federal government would pay McCain. One is that McCain would not be able to raise money beyond the limits proscribed by the system. That’s about $50M. If the nomination contest is wrapped by Feb 6., Mr. McCain will be out of money. The Democratic nominee may find him or herself in a similar predicament, but they have the option of raising and spending as much as they want between February and their late August convention. McCain could raise nothing. And therefore could spend nothing. He would rely on the good graces of the national media to ensure that at the very least, he gets to respond to the Democratic presidential nominee. But he won’t be able to campaign. He wouldn’t be able to build a field organization for the general election, relying instead on the Republican National Committee to conceive, fund, and construct the entire GOTV apparatus. (Forget about RNC soft money ads. Um, McCain-Feingold prohibits them.)
He probably couldn’t even campaign
. Outside allies in the party? They don’t like McCain.
“This is an argument that McCain’s opponents will make to reporters and to wavering Republicans: by accepting federal matching funds, McCain will put himself at a distinct disadvantage if he wins the nomination.
The Democrat, in other words, would have an edge
.”
So how great of a handicap would matching funds be for the Republican nominee? Well, according to the New York Times, President Bush raised roughly $259 million in primary dollars and Senator Kerry raised more than $233.5 million in 2004. Again, Senator McCain would be limited to a mere $50 million total in the primaries.
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