Topic subject Edwards Increasingly Fenced In By Federal Matching Funds

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Forum Name General Discussion: Politics
Topic subject Edwards Increasingly Fenced In By Federal Matching Funds
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3710722#3710722
3710722, Edwards Increasingly Fenced In By Federal Matching Funds
Posted by geek tragedy on Mon Nov-12-07 02:24 PM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/12/edwards-increasingly-fenc_n_72190.html


The federal subsidies comes with strings attached that require Edwards to keep state-by-state spending, as well as the total amount he spends during the primary season, within preset limits -- limits which will not apply to his rivals, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who are not accepting federal subsidies and whose expenditures are therefore limited only by what they can raise privately.

Iowa is the place where federal spending limits will most severely constrain Edwards. Getting supporters to participate in caucuses is much more expensive than getting them to vote in a primary. In addition to television, caucus turnout requires mass mailings, phone banks, extensive transportation systems to get people to and from dispersed caucus locations when temperatures average 17 degrees.





Of the top three candidates, Edwards is currently the underdog in Iowa. The average results from the five most recent polls of likely Iowa caucus goers gives Clinton a 6.4-point lead, with 30 percent; Obama averages 23.6 percent; and Edwards 19.6 percent, according to RealClearPolitics.

With so much riding on the outcome, Edwards is gearing up to bet the bank on Iowa, but his bank, by 2008 standards, is peanuts. Privately, Edwards' aides estimate that Clinton and Obama have together already outspent him in Iowa by $8 million, a margin likely to double by caucus day.