Opting Out of Matching Funds - Why I voted No

I just voted to urge the Dean campaign to accept public matching funds and not skip out of the system.

As much as I understand what we are up against I think sticking within the campaign finance reform system is too important a committment - one that, quite frankly, I would be willing to lose to uphold the integrity of.

As an alternative to opting out, I would begin negotiations with moveon.org or the Democratic National Comittee to start routing donations for a strong anti-bush message. This would help whoever the nominee is.

This is my opinion. I want to stress however, that I will continue to work for Gov. Dean's election regardless of the decision.