Spin Cycle

The Obama campaign argues that it did try to work out a public financing plan with McCain, as promised, and that his unwillingness/inability to rein in spending by the party and independent groups caused talks to fail:

"In the past couple of weeks, our campaign counsels met and it was immediately clear that McCain's campaign had no interest in the possibility of an agreement. When asked about the RNC's months of raising and spending for the general election, McCain's campaign could only offer its expectation that the Obama campaign would probably, sooner or later, catch up. And shortly thereafter, Senator McCain signaled to the 527s that they were free to run wild, without objection."

The problem: Obama signalled a while back that he might opt out, so RNC fundraising made sense. The very apparatus that Obama will now rely on could have easily been activated to raise money for the DNC. And so far, Obama hasn't really succeeded in reining in MoveOn.org -- so, why would McCain be expected to unilaterally disarm?

He can raise an estimated $200 million to $300 million, compared to $80 million in public financing.

Why not just admit that's his reason, instead of pretending it's McCain's fault?

Update: The lawyers for McCain and Obama are arguing over whether there actually were or were not negotiations. Follow the blow-by-blow here.