Spin Cycle

The early reactions to Obama's decision to opt out of public financing, contrary to the signals he sent last year, are not good. Nobody seems to be buying the argument that it's McCain's fault, according to CQ:

Democrat Russ Feingold (left), who sponsored campaign finance reform with McCain: "This is not a good decision. While the current public financing system for the presidential primaries is broken, the system for the general election is not. The entire system must be updated."

Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21, a campaign reform group, was "very disappointed:" Obama "knew the circumstances surrounding the presidential general election when he made his public pledge to use the system."

Joan Claybrook of Public Citizen: "Deeply disappointed."

McCain himself: "This election is about a lot of things but it's also about trust. It's also about whether you can take people's word.... He said he would stick to his agreement. He didn't."

Traditionally, good government process issues like campaign finance are not voting issues. It's hard to believe this will break the mold -- particular since it frees Obama to take money from a network of small donors, not (primarily) fat cats.

But he's not well known, and his coin has been a new kind of politics. Can McCain sell this as a character issue?