By: Jonathan Martin

My colleague Ken Vogel has this:

John McCain has taken a step towards accepting public financing in the general election — a move that would provide an $84 million infusion for his presidential campaign, but also limit its spending and potentially put him at a steep disadvantage to a better-funded Democratic opponent.

McCain’s campaign stressed Thursday he hasn’t decided whether to participate in the public financing program. But this month, he filed papers with the Federal Election Commission creating a separate campaign account that would enable him to make the public money go further.

Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for McCain, said creating the new account is not a move toward public financing. “This is a procedural move,” she said, intended “to give the campaign as many options as possible.”

Participating in the program could work out from both a financial and a public relations standpoint for McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee and a longtime champion of reducing the role of money in politics. The Arizona senator is not known as a prolific fundraiser, so the ability to reap $84 million without spending time and money on fundraising could be appealing.

 

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