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June 30, 2008

On Public Financing, Obama Made the Wrong Call

By Devon White

RALEIGH - Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has announced that he will opt out of the presidential public financing program for the general election, making him the first candidate to do so since the program’s inception in the wake of the Watergate scandal.  His decision comes after pledging to “aggressively” pursue public financing.

Given the fact that Obama has raised a record amount of campaign donations and has a dramatic cash advantage over Republican John McCain, his reversal on public financing was unsurprising to many political observers.  It is nonetheless troubling, especially for Americans who believe that democracy should be about who has the better ideas, not the bigger bank account.

At a June 20 fundraiser in Florida, Obama justified his U-turn on public financing by indicating he would need to raise private money to counter anticipated Republican attacks. “They're going to try to make you afraid of me.  He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?” he said. “Ultimately, I think the American people recognize that old stuff hasn't moved us forward. That old stuff just divides us.”

Yes, the public is familiar with that “old stuff,” such as the revolting fear mongering on the part of some Obama critics. But the “old stuff” also includes a regressive fundraising system that creates a wealth barrier preventing otherwise qualified candidates from serving in public office. Indeed, while pundits debate what Obama’s decision means for his well-heeled campaign, an important question remains largely unasked: What does Obama’s reversal mean for candidates who look to public financing to level the political playing field?

Campaign finance reform is a civil rights and voting rights issue. Traditionally, women and minority candidates who may not be well connected to the established political hierarchy, but who have a passion to serve the public, have a tough time keeping pace in the accelerating money chase. Given that it costs money to build name recognition, candidates who are not political insiders often have a difficult time getting their message out to potential supporters.  Public financing gives those candidates a chance to make their case to voters.

In defending his decision, Obama claimed that he had unilaterally created a more authentic public financing system than the one used by Republicans and Democrats alike for three decades.  Reportedly, 45 percent of contributions to the Obama campaign were in amounts of $200 or less, which is laudable. But that leaves 55 percent of contributions coming from large donors. There’s no reason to believe that the percentage of small donors will increase and exceed that of larger donors from this point in the election forward.

Obama may very well weather the political fallout from abandoning his public financing pledge, but what does this precedent mean for the future of campaign finance reform? When asked that very question Democratic Sen. Joe Biden said, “It leaves it at a place where it's going to be harder to make the case, to be honest about it.”

Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights and voting rights activist, generated a standard for campaign finance reform that should promote:

• equal opportunity for everyone to participate in the political process regardless of race, gender or economic status and access to wealth;
• one person, one vote rather than one dollar, one vote;
• government of, by and for all the people, not just those who can raise -- or who can afford to give -- big-money campaign contributions.

When considering the issue of campaign finance reform, the Hamer standard requires that we ask: Would this open the political system to someone like Fannie Lou Hamer -- a poor woman, a person of color, a stranger in the halls of power, but someone with vision, a passion for justice and a calling to public service?

As to Obama’s late-hour reversal, the answer is no.

Devon White is a member of the board of directors for the N.C. Center for Voter Education, a Raleigh-based nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving elections in North Carolina.