Dean Asks Supporters on Public Financing
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By RON FOURNIER, AP Political Writer
BOSTON - Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean (news - web sites), making a powerful case to abandon the U.S. public finance system, will ask 600,000 supporters to decide whether he should take the historical step to avoid campaign spending limits.
"I am putting this decision in your hands to prove that while this president may let his most powerful contributors shape his policies, the next president will be beholden to only the people," Dean said in a speech prepared for delivery Wednesday at New York's Cooper Union.
Excerpts were obtained by The Associated Press Tuesday night as the campaign prepared to survey supporters in a high-tech election this week.
Just eight months ago, the former Vermont governor committed to accepting taxpayer money and vowed to criticize any Democrat who didn't. But Dean now argues that the Democratic nominee cannot survive a severe cash disadvantage against President Bush (news - web sites), who plans to abandon the system for the second time and raise upward of $170 million.
He is also casting his potential abandonment of the system as a way to empower his supporters — many of whom are new to the political system — and legitimize his promise to fight Washington special interests on behalf of ordinary Americans.
Even as he prepares to abandon a system forged amid Watergate-era reforms, Dean said "true political reform" is giving Americans control of their government.
"The Bush campaign is selling our democracy so they can crush their political opponents," he said. "We cannot let this happen."
His critics were poised to call Dean a hypocrite. Dean told The AP in March that his support for public financing was not based on any political considerations, such as the size of the field or how much money he can raise.
"In order to truly level the playing field, every single presidential candidate should pledge to stay within the public financing system," said rival Dick Gephardt (news - web sites).
Two other foes, John Kerry (news - web sites) and Wesley Clark (news - web sites), will be forced to consider opting out of the system to remain competitive with the front-runner.
Dean is asking his backers this week to vote by e-mail, Internet, telephone or U.S. mail on whether he should remain in the system or join Bush in raising unlimited campaign contributions. He would be the first candidate in Democratic Party history to reject federal campaign money and the spending limits that come with it.
Candidates who take the matching funds can get up to $18.7 million — money Dean would be turning away if he rejects the system — and are limited to about $45 million in spending through the primary season.
Dean reported raising $25 million as of Sept. 30 and, campaign officials say, has raised about $5 million since then.
That means he's already bumping up against the $45 million cap, when matching money is factored in. By opting out of the system, Dean would be taking a calculated risk that he can raise much more than $45 million on his own.
In a fund-raising appeal, Dean is telling supporters that new contributions will help minimize the risks.
Putting such a critical choice in the hands of his supporters is another first for Dean, who has already revolutionized the way campaigns use the Internet to raise money and build grass-roots operations.
Evoking the nation's Founding Fathers, he said, "It is for the people to change the system for themselves."
Some Dean advisers expressed the hope that supporters would vote to opt out of the system. Others reacted with surprise and alarm at the risk Dean was taking. They all refused to predict the tally's outcome, though outside experts said they expected Dean to abandon public financing.
At least three Republicans have opted out of the system: Bush and Steve Forbes (news - web sites) in 2000, and John Connally in 1980.
Bush is expected to accept public financing for the general election, which begins after the GOP convention ends in September 2004. But the president, who is unopposed for the GOP nomination, plans to use his enormous primary campaign warchest to air political ads and develop a get-out-the-vote operation during spring 2004 — in hopes that the Democratic nominee, limited by caps, cannot respond.
"This is the one Democratic campaign which has the opportunity to fight back against the onslaught of the Bush attacks," Dean said. |
