Courtesy of the Brennan Center's Laura MacCleery and Andrew Stengel this summary of the principle shortcomings of the current presidential partial public financing system, and the major changes that need to be made to ensure the system can continue to do its job mediating the influence of big contributions on the electoral process and allowing candidates without access to deep pockets to remain competitive.

Having passed out of the Hawaii Senate and House, a bill to create a pilot program of full public financing for county council elections on the Big Island now awaits approval by Governor Linda Lingle. The people at Voter-Owned Hawaii have been pursuing public financing for Hawaii's elections for many years -- I hope they'll soon be able to celebrate this victory!

Missed this one on the day it was published but I was glad to see it today. Jack Miller of Indianapolis wrote a great letter to the editor in support of the Fair Elections Now Act, public financing of elections, and the real "change" we've been hearing so much about this presidential race. Full letter after the jump.