McCain

[glatt]

I heard about this the other day on NPR. McCain might be screwed over this. It seems pretty clear he broke the letter of the law.

Of course they are downplaying it and claiming the law doesn't apply to him because he requested to be excluded from the public funding, but that was only after using the guarantee of public funding to secure a loan for his campaign.

It's confusing.

1. McCain needed money, so he requested public funding and agreed to abide by the rules that come with that money.
2. He needed more money, so he took out a loan, and used the promise of future public funding as collateral to get the loan.
3. Then he had enough money, so he asked to be excluded from the public money and the rules that come with it.
4. He was never excluded, for various administrative reasons, even though perhaps he should have been, and was warned by the FEC that he is still required to obey the rules that come with public funding.
5. He violated those rules.

If the FEC has any teeth, he is screwed.