The FEC has decided to keep in place a ban on online contributions from committees like ActBlue from counting towards matching funds from the presidential public financing program (remember the letter we wrote about this last week). This is a disappointing decision; read commentary here on the decision and reactions to it, including comments from Public Campaign's president Nick Nyhart.

The decision preserves a provision of the presidential public financing program as it was drafted thirty years ago; what was once a laudable effort to keep people from circumventing individual contribution limits is now a roadblock to small donor involvement in the presidential race:

Advocates say the ruling is an archaic interpretation of a 30 year old law that could hurt the rapidly growing netroots fundraising movement on both sides of aisle.


“This law never anticipated online fundraising,” said Nick Nyhart, president of Public Campaign, a non-profit fighting for comprehensive campaign finance reform. “The ruling really tosses aside the spirit of the law, which is to encourage small contributions.”


In the short term the FEC ruling has the most direct impact on the Edwards campaign – the only campaign among the three leading Democratic contenders to accept public matching funds. More than 55,000 donors account for the former senator’s ActBlue haul, and for a time earlier this year ActBlue was the campaign’s only online fundraising vehicle.


The campaign of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has also received money through ActBlue.


"Using new tools and new techniques, we are creating a new era of small-donor democracy," said ActBlue Executive Director Jonathan Zucker, in a statement. "Unfortunately, it is going to take a bit longer for the regulatory regime to reflect these positive advances in our politics."