Obama’s Fundraising Success May Herald a Whole New Model

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has created the potential for a new model of campaign financing, and a new (or at least altered) approach to campaign finance reform. I am not referring to his decision to opt out of the public funding system, for which he has taken serious flak from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), major newspaper editorial pages, many columnists and a slew of reformers. I mean in his incredible ability to craft a wholly new funding system that has already raised almost $300 million for the nominating process from approximately 1.7 million individual donors.