The Mainstream Media (MSM) airwaves have been making much ado about the recent news concerning Obama’s decision to opt-out of public financing for the 2008 Presidential General Election. Talking heads have been hosting panels of experts, all weighing in on whether or not this is Obama’s first major misstep, how McCain can capitalize on this reversal, and what this move means for Obama’s overall credibility.

The fabled “flip-flop” moniker has been tossed about and McCain and his people have gleefully pounced upon this development to label Obama a promise-breaker.

Considering most Americans don’t understand what a delegate is or how the Electoral College works, the notion that whether or not Obama will take public money will somehow undermine Obama’s candidacy or his standing among supporters is delusional at best.

Any detailed discussion about campaign finance – while important and fundamental to the health of our democracy – comes with it the curious side effects of drowsiness, restlessness, and unbearable ennui. The conversation about campaign finance is wonkish and arcane, and unforunately not exactly an issue that drives voters to the polls. If the McCain campaign thinks for one minute that Americans will suddenly forget that it now costs $75 to fill up their car, or that they can’t afford a medical procedure, or that a loved one (for the third time) is on their way back for another 15 months in Iraq, because Obama made a decision to eschew limited public financing for the “unlimited” funds available to him through his 1.5 million small donors, then it is really McCain’s judgment that should be called into question here. Obama is simply doing all he can to win the election. It defies reason to handicap one’s self simply to make the point that the system of financing campaigns is broken.

Of course McCain prefers to receive 85 million in tax-payer dollars to finance his campaign! Obama has raised approximately three dollars to McCain’s every one, with no end in sight. And now that Obama and Clinton have begun joint fundraising, that proportion could possibly even lean more out of whack in favor of Obama in the coming months

Regarding Obama’s decision, McCain said in classic GOP fashion:

“[this] should be disturbing to all Americans…[and] we’ll have to reevaluate [our own commitment to public funds] in light of his decision.”

So instead of sticking to his convictions, McCain would consider turning down public funds himself. I guess that makes this a lose-lose propostion for McCain. By staying in the public financing system he faces a severe financial disadvantage. Considering the recent polling data from swingstates Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, it looks like McCain will have to spend a lot of money to have a chance at simply maintaining control of states won by Bush in 2004 (FL, OH), let alone states like Virginia, Colorado, and even Georgia, which until a few months ago were considered near “locks” for the GOP.

But by opting out, as his quote above certainly suggests is an option on the table, McCain would sacrifice all the moral highground he has attempted to gather on the heels of Obama’s decision. And in this election, when Obama will walk away with a landslide victory, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in this country in two decades, moral highground might be McCain’s consolation prize.

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