Right Thinking From The Left Coast
"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Monday, June 30, 2008

Mitt’s Millions
by West Virginia Rebel

Would picking Mitt Romney as Veep really help McCain? Maybe not:

One thing I’m genuinely unclear on: If, as expected, McCain stays within the public financing system for the general election, how useful is the money Romney raises? Allen says Team McCain is likely to announce its veep choice shortly after Obama announces his, presumably in early August. Under the public financing rules, that would leave the McCain-Romney ticket about a month to spend any money it raises, which means Romney’s ability to raise $50-$60 million in 60 days wouldn’t necessarily be that helpful. Is it possible that McCain would follow Obama in opting out if Romney joins the ticket? (That would also free Romney to spend his personal wealth, no?*) Or would the money raised after the GOP convention just go to the RNC? Or would Romney start raising the money even before he was officially announced?

If McCain is Veep shopping just for someone to help him raise campaign cash, then it’s a bad idea. McCain could do better. But it shows how constrained McCain is by his own legislation. He might get blasted as a hypocrite, but following Obama’s lead and opting out may be the smart thing to do. One of the good things about this race could be the death of campaign finance reform, and it would be OK for McCain to say he was wrong on this issue.

Posted by West Virginia Rebel on 06/30/08 at 02:59 PM in Election 2008  • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink • Discuss this in the forums
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