Boring but important. The 2012 presidential race will be the first since Watergate that is entirely funded by private donations.
Mitt Romney and Barack Obama will not accept federal funding for their campaign, which will allow them to raise and spend far more than the $91 million they would be limited to if they took public money.
Bloomberg says Romney is hoping to raise and spend nearly $800 million for November's campaign. Obama is pushing for similar numbers.
“We have come full circle to the Watergate era when presidential candidates were totally beholden to special interests and the wealthy,” said Craig Holman of Public Citizen, a Washington-based advocacy group that supports stronger campaign finance laws. “The presidential public financing system had worked so well, and it is major loss to the integrity of our elections to have no one participate.”
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