Opting In or Out  Candidates must decide whether they will
accept public campaign financing  Kerry. The party spent $120
million in advertising in 2004. More than 90% of that was for
attack ads,” he adds. “It was a basic clash of strategies that
was not helpful to the candidate. That is an example of how
relying on independent spending might be a problem for the
candidate. That is one of the factors that Sen. Obama [and his
campaign] are weighing as they consider this decision. “On the
other side, $85 million dollars is a lot to throw away.”  The
2004 election cycle was the first in which national parties have
been prohibited from receiving “soft money”–or funds spent by
organizations that aren’t contributed directly to a campaign–as
a result of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA),
which was coauthored by McCain. The law was to restrain the
direct relationships between office holders and major donors,
increase disclosure, and make things more accountable.  All
political committees file under sectio