Excuse me, but if you think that my commentary could possibly insult members of the forum's intelligence, then they weren't that intelligent to begin with (putting words in my mouth)....

Try this one on:

Barack Obama Forgoes Public Funding to Combat 527’s Wake Up America
Obama bypasses public money — 1st since Watergate - Yahoo! News
"Last year, Obama filled out a questionnaire where he vowed to "aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election." But since clinching the Democratic nomination earlier this month, Obama has not broached the subject with McCain. The only discussion occurred about two weeks ago between Obama's and McCain's lawyers,

Obama lawyer Robert Bauer said he discussed the public financing issue for 45 minutes on June 6 with McCain counsel Trevor Potter. In interviews and e-mails, both Bauer and Potter agree that Bauer raised concerns about McCain having a head start because he had secured the nomination in early March and Obama did not until June 3. Potter said he told Bauer that given Obama's fundraising "I was sure there would be no McCain advantage by the end of the summer."

That meeting, Potter said, "was not part of any negotiation" on public financing.

"There was no aggressive pursuit of negotiations with the McCain campaign, there was no pursuit, period, of negotiations with the McCain campaign," Potter added later in a conference call with reporters.

At a breakfast with reporters Thursday, Bauer said that after his meeting with Potter, "It became clear to me, and I reported to the campaign, that there really wasn't a basis for further discussion."

Several campaign finance watchdog groups voiced dismay at Obama's decision, with Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer noting that the conditions Obama had initially set for accepting public funds had been met.

Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who has worked with McCain on campaign finance laws in the past, praised Obama for his support of current campaign finance legislation, but added: "This decision was a mistake."

Obama raked in more than $265 million as of the end of April. Of that, nearly $10 million was for the general election, reserved for spending after the party's national convention in August. McCain had raised nearly $115 million by the end of May, eligible for spending before the convention.

McCain filed his May fundraising report Thursday with the Federal Election Commission, showing he raised $21 million during the month and started June with $31.5 million cash on hand. McCain had announced those numbers earlier this month. He spent a total of $11.7 million in May.

On the other hand, Obama's clear financial advantage over McCain is offset in part by the resources of the Republican National Committee, which has far more money in the bank than the Democratic National Committee. Both national parties can spend money on behalf of the presidential candidates.

Obama said McCain and the Republican National Committee are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and political action committees.

"And we've already seen that he's not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations," Obama said.

Despite that claim, few Republican-leaning groups have weighed into the presidential contest so far. In fact, Obama allies such as MoveOn.org are the ones that have been spending money on advertising against McCain.

McCain and Obama both declined public financing in the primary contests, thus avoiding the spending limits that come with the money. McCain had initially applied for the money, however, and has been in a dispute with the Federal Election Commission over whether he needed its approval to decline the funds. The FEC insists that he does, but has not had a quorum to act because four of its six seats have been vacant pending Senate confirmation of presidential nominees. McCain lawyers have disputed the need for FEC approval."

Stop being so melodramatic. Word.