John Edwards has taken a lot of heat over the last week over his campaign's decision to accept public matching funds in the primaries. By accepting the money, he gives his campaign an influx of cash, however it limits his total expenses to around $50 million till the August convention. The justifiable fear is that this will leave Edwards without the money needed to respond to the slime his repug opponent throws his way between March and August. But what if there was a way to get around this?
Legally, his campaign's hands are tied to certain limits, however what if they opened up another campaign after winning the nomination? What if Elizabeth Edwards files the paper work needed to run for president, but does not limited herself by accepting matching funds? If so, her campaign could raise all the money legally possible and spend it pushing issues and responding to attacks, all under the Edwards for President banner. Sure most on the right will hoot and howl, but they will do that no matter what happens.
Now I'm no lawyer, so there might be something out there that prevents this, however there is another way. Edwards could break with tradition and name his VP pick shortly after winning the nomination (say early April) and that person could then form their own presidential campaign to except donations. They could then run the ads needed under an 'Edwards/Great VP pick' heading. Of course this means that any current candidates that have received matching funds are out of the VP pool and that the main pre-convention story is taken away, but it is a possible solution.
Neither of these ideas are perfect solutions, but they are possible solutions (at least I think, again, not a lawyer). I'm sure some negative press would come their way, but if it gives them the ability to get their message out there, I'm dure the benefits would out do this negatives.
So am I completely off with this idea?