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White House race may cost hopefuls $500M: Strategists from both parties estimate the White House race in 2008 could cost each nominee $500 million ? far more than the Presidential Election Campaign Fund can afford. As a result, this next presidential campaign could mark the first time in 30 years that the Democratic and Republican nominees turn down the fund's millions in both the primary and the general elections.
"The public financing system was a great system, but it's broke," said Steve Elmendorf, the deputy campaign manager for Democrat
John Kerry when the Massachusetts senator ran in 2004.
"There's not enough money in it anymore. It's highly unlikely that any candidate in any party will stay in the public funding system," Elmendorf said.
The decision has precedent.
George W. Bush declined the public money in the 2000 GOP primaries, when he was a first-time candidate, and did so again in 2004, when he sought re-election. Democrats
Howard Dean and John Kerry made the same choice in 2004.
Still, Bush and Kerry each accepted $74.5 million from the fund to run their general election campaigns. For 2008, the amount could reach $85 million per nominee.
If the major party candidates decline the general election funds in two years, they in effect would kill one of the chief post-Watergate overhauls in campaign law.
The fund, which is expected to have about $200 million by the end of 2007, still would help pay for party presidential nominating conventions and assist primary candidates who do not raise large amounts of money.
Bush 'prepares emissions U-turn': President Bush is preparing an astonishing U-turn on global warming, senior Washington sources say.
After years of trying to sabotage agreements to tackle climate change he is drawing up plans to control emissions of carbon dioxide and rapidly boost the use of renewable energy sources.
Administration insiders privately refer to the planned volte-face as Mr Bush's "Nixon goes to China moment", recalling how the former president amazed the world after years of refusing to deal with its Communist regime. Hardline global warming sceptics, however, are already publicly attacking the plans.
