To Milk The Cash Cow Or Take The Government Cheese?

Some in the Democratic Party are suggesting that Senator Kerry turn down public funds for his presidential campaign in order to avoid the fundraising limits that come with them. Kerry's success at raising money, they believe, would allow him to finance his run with only campaign contributions and allow John Kerry to negate the advantage George W. Bush enjoys thanks to the late date of the Republican Convention (which allows the Republicans a longer period in which they can receive private contributions). There is nothing especially wrong with this idea, it does not violate campaign finance laws and the cause of clean elections will not be advanced by a Republican victory, there is no reason for Kerry to have to fight with one hand tied behind his back thanks to the scheduling of the parties' conventions. However, like the plan to avoid this problem by delaying Kerry's acceptance of the Democrats' nomination until after the Convention , this scheme will be a bad public relations move. The high brows in the media will reprimand Kerry for his "hypocrisy", Ralph Nader will invigorated by an example of "Democratic corruption" and Bush's attempt to paint himself as the true defender of the little guy will seem just that more plausible to some. Rather than talking about the issues, where Kerry hold the advantage, the Democrats will be stuck trying to justify a campaign tactic which may not be able to produce the results that were expected of it.