It’s been 3 1/2 weeks since the Center for Individual Freedom asked Sen. McCain to “talk straight” with the American people about whether he will campaign within the presidential public financing system as he seeks the GOP nomination. Yet, he remains silent — other than his campaign saying that the Arizona Senator hasn’t made up his mind.
But his silence, while not surprising, is, at the very least, disingenuous.
Senator McCain is vowing to introduce legislation in the 110th Congress to further limit political speech as part of his ongoing “reform” agenda. But his game of political dodge ball on the question above would indicate that he doesn’t want to limit his own speech by abiding by limitations similar to those he seeks to impose on everyone else.
Moreover, it has been widely reported that Candidate McCain is out there raising enormous sums of private money (from sources he once shunned) to support his Presidential bid. Indeed, once he formally announces his candidacy, McCain’s fundraising activity, should it exceed a certain level, will disqualify him from receiving public money — at least in the GOP Primary.
As “Straight Talk?” readers know, Senator Obama has recently asked the FEC for an advisory opinion on whether his campaign can begin raising private funds with the intention of returning them in favor of public money should both major political parties’ candidates ultimately agree to do so in the general election. If the FEC rules in Obama’s favor, this will certainly create a dilemma for other candidates, including McCain.
That point was not missed by David Kirkpatrick of The New York Times. Writing last week about the issue, Kirkpatrick noted…
“[Obama] asked the commission if he could begin soliciting private donations with the understanding that he might later return the money to his contributors. If he won the Democratic nomination, he could then strike a deal with the Republican nominee to return their private donations and use only public money for the general election. For 2008, that would limit each general election campaign to about $85 million. …
“Mr. Obama’s filing raises delicate questions for some of his rivals. Three of them — Mrs. Clinton and John Edwards among the Democrats, and Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona — have begun raising private contributions outside the public financing system. All three have said they value the public financing system and support updating it to keep it alive. Mr. McCain in particular has led efforts to tighten campaign finance laws.”
While Kirkpatrick went further in quoting a McCain spokesman as seemingly taking offense to Obama’s request…
“[A]spokesman for Mr. McCain suggested that Mr. Obama was trying to have it both ways, preserving the possibility of taking public money if he could not bring in enough private donations. ‘Is he asking for the option of whatever is the higher number?’ Matt David, the spokesman, asked.”
… he also noted:
“Although Mr. McCain’s campaign has sought donations that would be illegal for a candidate who takes public money to accept, his aides have asserted that no decision has been made and said that the campaign might return the contributions.”
It sounds to us like McCain is the one who “wants to have it both ways.” It is clear to everyone that McCain has no intention of abiding by the limitations of the public financing system — at least in the GOP Primary. So why not “talk straight” with the American people?
Is it because Senator McCain’s past support of public financing, his sponsorship of and advocacy for McCain-Feingold, and his ongoing assault on the free speech and association rights of the American people in the current Congress make Candidate McCain a hypocrite on this issue?
We will let readers answer that question.
