On Jan 22, 2007, at 1:40 PM, Michael Pollak wrote:
> On Mon, 22 Jan 2007, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>> The Note notes this morning that Hillary is the first major party
>> pres candidate in modern times to reject public financing.
>
> I don't think the Note is right here. Right now we're talking
> about primary funding.
Nope, it's the general, and that's where the innovation lies. I posted that after having read only the teaser at the opening; here's the full passage and link to the original.
Doug
----
<http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=156238&page=2>
2008: Democrats: Clinton: opting out:
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) will "not take matching funds in the primary campaign or, if she wins the Democratic nomination, in the general election," reports the Los Angeles Times' Dan Morain based on an e-mail exchange with senior Clinton advisor Howard Wolfson.
In 2004, both President Bush and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) opted out of the matching-funds system for the nomination season. But in every campaign since 1976, the nominees have accepted matching funds for the general election.
In 2004, the FEC gave $75 million each to Kerry and Bush. With an inflation adjustment, the grant is expected to be $83.8 million in 2008.
Top-tier contenders on both sides of the aisle are expected to follow Clinton's lead and abandon the system this cycle in both the primaries and the general.
A tangible sign that Clinton was going to forego matching funds can be viewed on her web site where she asks for contributions as high as $4,200 ($2,100 for the primary and another $2,100 for the general). Candidates who take public money in the general election are restricted to that amount and are not allowed to raise additional money.
LINK: <http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na- publicfinance22jan22,0,2363122.story?coll=la-home-headlines.html>