Media Muddle McCain Campaign Public Finance Record

In light of the intense media focus on Sen. Barack Obama's decision to forgo public financing in the general election, many in the media have portrayed Sen. John McCain as a campaign finance hero. Equally troubling are reports that neglect to note important information that paints a different picture of McCain. For example, USA Today reported today in a story concerning Obama's decision that a McCain spokesman said, "Unlike Barack Obama, John McCain believes in keeping his word to the American people, and he will undergo public financing for the general election." But while the McCain campaign now says McCain will not opt out of public financing because he is "keeping his word to the American people," McCain himself previously indicated that his decision over whether to take public financing if Obama opted out would depend not on "keeping his word" but on whether it would be financially prudent to do so. Nor did USA Today note that while McCain has exceeded primary election spending limits under the public financing system -- after stating that he had opted out of the system -- Federal Election Commission chairman David Mason has taken the position that McCain cannot legally opt out without FEC approval, after McCain signed an agreement last fall for a loan that The New York Times described as being "secured in part by the promise of federal matching money."

In other words, the man whom the media have touted as a campaign finance reformer signed a loan agreement that may have required him to stay in the race no matter how badly his campaign was doing in order to obtain public money to pay back his loan. If in fact McCain's campaign is found to have raised and spent money beyond the public financing limits, it would "put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison" according to the Washington Post.

Further, when Charles Gibson, host of ABC's World News, asked McCain in a June 5 interview whether he would opt out of public financing if Obama did, McCain did not mention his "word to the American people." Instead, McCain replied: "I don't know. We'd have to look and see how much money -- not only how much money we could raise, but how much time you spend away from actually campaigning. That's the problem. The benefit of taking the public financing is that then you don't have to worry about the fundraising." Similarly, in an April 10 article, The New York Times reported that "campaign officials emphasize that no final decision has been made" on public financing for the general election, and quoted senior adviser Charlie Black's statement, "We could sit down in July or August and say, 'Hey, we're raising a lot of money and maybe we should forgo it.' ... We don't have enough data."

BACKGROUND:

USA Today uncritically quoted McCain campaign saying that decision not to opt out of public financing was about "keeping his word to the American people"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200806200002

Summary: A USA Today article quoted Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Sen. John McCain, who said, "Unlike Barack Obama, John McCain believes in keeping his word to the American people, and he will undergo public financing for the general election." But the article did not note that while the McCain campaign, through Bounds, now says McCain will not opt out of public financing because he is "keeping his word to the American people," McCain himself previously indicated that his decision over whether to take public financing if Obama opted out would depend not on "keeping his word" but on whether it would be financially prudent to do so. Indeed, McCain senior adviser Charlie Black reportedly said, "We could sit down in July or August and say, 'Hey, we're raising a lot of money and maybe we should forgo it.' ... We don't have enough data."