For the Record

Yes, I'm disappointed with Obama's position on telecomm immunity.

Yes, I think Obama could have done a more convincing job of explaining why he is opting out of public financing of his campaign. As somebody on the radio said, if you're his campaign manager, you could be accused of malpractice if you opted in; but I thought his video explanation was feeble.

I've supported McCain/Feingold and other attempts at campaign finance reform. We've been struggling, unsuccessfully, since Watergate to find a way to remove Big Money's influence on the electoral process. Public financing was a path to that goal, but not the goal itself.

Obama's success at raising money on the internet suggests there's a new way to do it that wasn't available when we first started thinking about the problem. There are still limits on the amount individual donors can give, so no individual donor or group of donors can buy him.

Nevertheless, the fact that I'm prepared to abandon public financing the first time Democrats are outraising Republicans is not lost on me. I guess I think it's more important to throw the idiots out. And make no mistake about it: McCain is opting in because it's to his advantage.

How's that for a rationalization?