Newsweek's CW: Obama Could Signal Death of Public Campaign Financing

Today's Conventional Wisdom at Newsweek.com gives the imperial thumbs down for public campaign financing system, and all because the all-but-anointed Democratic champion is foregoing federal funding.:

[Down arrow] Public campaign financing: Obama decision to forgo funds could signal the end of system.

Besides being entirely too premature to make a pronouncement like that, it's a blown opportunity for the snarky editors at Newsweek to blast Obama for breaking a campaign pledge. Rather than assign the Illinois Democrat a down arrow for backing out of his pledge to run on public financing, Newsweek is heralding the demise of a system Obama seemed to favor just months ago.

One doesn't have to be that cynical to think the reversal has less to do with a genuine change of heart than an opportunistic change in campaign strategy. After all, pledging to run on public financing and eschewing private contributions plays well for liberal Democratic primary audiences but doesn't stand one in good stead to win an election due to the constraints it places on spending and fundraising. Surely to suggest that Obama knew this all along would comfortably fall into the real conventional wisdom inside the Beltway.