Progressive Voices

• Candidates can raise hundreds of millions of dollars from big donors and special interest groups in the primary and still receive public financing in the general election, as long as they limit their spending in September, October, and November. This is long after big money contributions have already made their mark and does little to dilute the influence of powerful, moneyed interests.
• Public money in the primary is received through a dollar for dollar match of a donors’ first $250, but candidates can still collect $4,000 checks and PAC money.   Having a full public financing program where candidates are only allowed to collect small contributions and must raise this money from tens of thousands of voters to be publicly financed would make the process far more democratic.
• The presidential public financing system provides no protection from privately financed opponents or independent expenditures. Obama’s decision might be very different if there was a “matching money” component and McCain received a dollar for dollar match on everything Obama raised over $85 million. 

Thankfully, there is a tried and tested model of public financing called Voter-Owned Elections—available in North Carolina and states across the nation—that would fix many of the failings of the Presidential public financing system, and create a program worthy of public support.  

Under Voter-Owned public financing, candidates rely solely on small donor and public support, receive matching money if they’re outspent by nonparticipating opponents, and are barred from accepting all contributions of more than a few hundred dollars to receive public money. It’s a way of giving candidates and the public a real alternative to the special interest money chase and ending the reliance on special interest cash that has tainted elections from the White House to the courthouse. 

In North Carolina, Voter-Owned Elections are available for appellate judges and some of our statewide executive offices, including Commissioner of Insurance. So far these programs have been a success, with high and diverse participation and dramatic reductions in expectation-laden special interest contributions. By making $10 and $20 donations meaningful, cutting off the dependence on special interests and big donors, and making it possible for any qualified candidate with community support to run for office, public financing fulfills its public mission. Real and perceived corruption is reduced, wealth is less of a determinant of who runs for office, elections are patently more publicly oriented, and our government comes one step closer to the ideals of self-representation. 

Whether you see Obama’s decision to forego public financing as a self-interested reneging on a promise or an understandable decision considering the circumstances—or both—we should all be able to agree that after thirty years without updating, a major Presidential public financing overhaul is needed. Rep. David Price has introduced legislation (The Presidential Public Financing Act of 2007) that would dramatically improve the presidential public financing system and make it closer to the Voter-Owned Elections model.  

This proposal would give the public real benefits for their public investment: issue-based, grassroots campaigns that focus on the concerns of voters and campaigns with substantially less big dollar contributions, PAC money, and bundled money. By updating presidential public financing in a way that allows the public to more fully own the process, we’ll be investing in a system that gives us an important tool to fulfill the promise our democracy holds.

Chase Foster is the Coordinator of North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections