Campaign Financing: Over

David Weigel | January 22, 2007

The Hotline notices that Hillary Clinton's campaign site encourages donations over the limit mandated by the campaign finance reforms of the 1970s.

Because the limit on individual contributions is $2100 per election, it means that Clinton is raising money for two accounts -- her primary account and a general election account.

In other words -- Clinton becomes the first candidate to officially acknowledge that she won't accept federal matching funds for either the primary and the general election.

We've known for years that Clinton has the potential to raise more money than God, and God certainly doesn't worry about post-Watergate "good government" laws. The larger issue is whether Clinton's move compels every other serious candidate to ditch federal matching funds. If so, one of the next president's first acts in office could be (blissfully) the dismantling of this ridiculous system.