Edwards decides to accept public money

John Edwards reversed course today on accepting public money for his presidential campaign, becoming the first of the major Democratic candidates to make the move.

With the third quarter of fund-raising ending on Sunday, he insisted in an interview with CNN that he did not make the decision because he is short of cash.

Instead, he is trying to frame the move as his latest attempt to reduce the influence of special interests, following on his stand to not take donations from Washington lobbyists. He challenged his Democratic rivals -- front-runner Hillary Clinton in particular -- to join him in the public financing system.

"You can't buy your way to the Democratic nomination," Edwards campaign manager David Bonior said in a statement the campaign issued this afternoon. "This is the most expensive presidential campaign in history, by far. And the simple fact is that the influence of money in politics -- and the focus on raising money in this election – has gotten out of control. It's time to get back to focusing on the issues that matter to the American people. That's why John Edwards has decided to play by the rules that were designed to ensure fairness in the election process by capping his campaign spending and seeking public financing."

Still, in February, Edwards declared that he would not seek public money, saying that he expected that the other major contenders to raise unlimited private money and he had to do the same to be competitive.

As of June 30, Edwards had raised $23 million, but that was far behind Clinton's $63 million and Barack Obama's $59 million, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Under the public financing system, federal money will match up to $250 of an individual’s contributions. To become eligible, a candidate must raise more than $5,000 of matchable contributions in each of at least 20 states. In return, a candidate must also agree to: limit campaign spending for all primary elections; limit campaign spending in each state; and limit spending from personal funds to $50,000.