Obama and Romney skip public campaign funds for the first time since Watergate
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, speaks at a news conference on March 21 at the U.S. Capitol. Democratic senators held a news conference to announce new legislation “to blunt the worst effects” of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision.
Will we forget Watergate so easily?
For the first time in 36 years, a general election will be held in the US in which neither the Republican nor the Democratic candidate will spend taxpayer funds to finance their campaigns, according to USA Today.
Both President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican Nominee Mitt Romney will each forego $91.2 million in public funds in order to be able to raise hundreds of millions in private donations each, the news paper said.
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The US system of public financing of elections was created in 1976 as a reaction to the Watergate scandal, in which Richard Nixon’s Committee for the Re-Election of the President was involved in money laundering and maintaining a slush fund used for criminal activities.
Public financing is seen as a means of lessening the effects of money in politics and insulating candidates from the relationships created by accepting private contributions.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that, after claiming the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney began intensive efforts to coordinate fundraising with the Republcian National Committee. Starting Wednesday, Romney was to begin aggressive fundraising in New York, according to CNN.
With the RNC and four state Republican parties, Romney plans to solicit individual contributions of up to $75,000, according to Bloomberg. The New York Times reports that the goal is to raise $800 million for Romney and that his campaign estimates that a total of $1 billion will be spent in the effort to unseat Obama.
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According to The Times, Republicans have suggested that Obama, who currently enjoys a 10-to-1 fundraising advantage over Romney, will raise as much as $1 billion for his own campaign.
Obama raised about $750 million for his first election, during which he broke a campaign pledge to use public funds, but his campaign has denied the Republicans’ $1 billion estimate.
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