So, Barack Obama will not be taking public financing. I tend to think this is the best choice. The public financing system is messed up in this country, and I have to say that McCain's criticisms don't really carry much water here. The whole point of campaign finance reform is to get big money and influence out of politics. Obama's model does this as well as the government's, and he'll have a money advantage over McCain's public financing option. Actually, McCain's signature idea of campaign finance reform is a pretty stupid idea and a waste of time. People with a lot of money will eventually find themselves in positions of influence, which is why the McCain approach to this problem, while admirable, reflects something less than a great mind at work. The only way to really tamper down the influence of special interests is to adopt policies that minimize the income gap and create a more egalitarian society. Less ultrarich people = less special interest influence. That is exactly how it was during the post-New Deal era. McCain does not want to do that.
On a related topic, I have to say that I find conservative Ross Douthat's impression of McCain interesting (and persuasive). He has argued that McCain's approach to bipartisanship is to be really conservative on the meat-and-potatoes issues while giving in to liberals wholesale on the less important (to conservatives) boutique issues for liberal elites, like campaign finance and immigration, among others. I think this is correct, and while it's been a good strategy to make John McCain a very popular politician among liberals and moderates it hasn't really produced too much of note substantively, as these issues (like ANWR) are typically small-bore. The biggest threat to special interest influence right now is the Obama campaign, and that has nothing at all to do with McCain-Feingold, which was pretty much eviscerated by SCOTUS last year. McCain just isn't a serious-minded person--he's a moral crusader who loves leading the righteous charge but can't be bothered with the details. It's like he's a combination of the worst traits of the last generation of conservative leaders. Different kind of Republican, indeed.
