McCain Says Yes to Public Financing.

Senator John McCain has decided to accept public financing for his campaign, while Democrat rival, Senator Barack Obama, has decided to opt out of the system. “We will take public financing,” Senator McCain told reporters aboard his campaign bus on Thursday, June 19. Asked what his thinking was, he simply said, “Because we decided to take public financing.”

The McCain campaign has long struggled to raise money, and was out-raised by several of his Republican rivals in the primary and vastly out-raised by Senator Obama. The McCain campaign hoped that by accepting public financing – which will yield it more $84.1 million – and relying on the deep-pockets of the Republican National Committee, it will be able to stay competitive with Senator Obama.