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	<title><![CDATA[Thoughts on Sen. Obama's Decision to Opt Out of Public Financing]]></title>
	<url>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-hasen/thoughts-on-sen-obamas-de_b_108066.html</url>
	<abstract><![CDATA[<p>You can find his video announcement <a href="https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/bignews?source=20080619_PF_ND_G">here</a>. The news is currently the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/us/politics/20obamacnd.html?hp">lead story</a> on the NYT website. </p>

<p>I find Senator Obama's decision <a href="http://writ.lp.findlaw.com/commentary/20080422_hasen.html">completely defensible</a> and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-hasen/senator-obama-and-the-dec_b_103737.html">unsurprising</a>. The system is broken. We cannot expect opt ins by successful candidates, especially in the internet age which has greatly decreased the cost of fundraising from micro-donors.</p>

<p>UPDATE: My friends <a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/06/mccain-campaign.html">Trevor Potter</a> and <a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/06/obama-campaign.html">Bob Bauer</a> disagree about whether there were negotiations between the McCain and Obama campaigns over...</p>]]></abstract>
	<taxonomy><![CDATA[Politics]]></taxonomy>
	<date_published>2008-06-27T05:12:00-04:00</date_published>
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