McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and Public Financing
February 26, 2008
After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain is withdrawing from the public financing system in the same way as other candidates.
To distract from his efforts to unilaterally withdraw from the campaign finance system he once supported, John McCain's campaign is arguing he is withdrawing from the matching funds program in the same way as previous presidential candidates. The fact is, John McCain is breaking the law by trying to unilaterally withdraw from the public financing system after having used the promise of matching funds as collateral for a loan as well as getting on the ballots in some states. [Washington Post, 2/22/08]
Unlike the McCain campaign, which claims it did not need permission from the FEC to withdraw from the matching funds program despite knowing this to not be the case, Governor Dean actually received a letter from the FEC releasing him from the system, saying "the Commission has withdrawn its certification to the Secretary of the Treasury that Howard Dean and Dean for America ('the Committee') are entitled to a payment from the Presidential Primary Matching Account. Please note that both you and the Committee will no longer be bound by the terms of the candidate agreement." [FEC Letter, 12/31/03] In contrast, the FEC sent McCain a letter last week that says he cannot withdraw from the system until he has received approval from the FEC. [AP, 2/22/08]
Clearly, McCain thinks the law applies to everyone but himself and is willing to distort the facts to win an election. After building a career as a Washington reformer, McCain's do-anything-to-win tactics have seriously called his integrity into question.
