Edwards is latest candidate to turn down public campaign funds

On Monday, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards became the latest presidential candidate to say he will not accept matching campaign funds from the government, a move that allows him to raise and spend unlimited money on his own.

Last month, Senator Hillary Clinton made the unprecedented move of not accepting public funding for either the primary or the general election because she believes she has the ability to raise more money than she would receive from the government. In 2004, John Kerry and Howard Dean opted out of the public funding system in the Democratic presidential primary. But Kerry and his Republican rival George W. Bush received government funding during the general election.

In that same year Edwards did receive matching funds in the primary.

The only other 2008 candidate to weigh in on government funding so far is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who said he will not accept public funds for the primary and will make a decision on the general election when, and if, he becomes the Republican presidential nominee.