WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Thursday he will bypass the federal public financing system in the general election, abandoning an earlier commitment to take the money if his Republican rival did as well.
Obama, who has shattered presidential campaign fundraising records, will forgo more than $84 million that would have been available to him in the general election.
Obama officials said they decided to take that route because McCain is already spending privately raised funds toward the general election campaign.
``It's not an easy decision, and especially because I support a robust system of public financing of elections,'' Obama said in a video message e-mailed to supporters. ``But the public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken, and we face opponents who've become masters at gaming this broken system.''
Obama said his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, and the Republican National Committee are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and political action committees.
``And we've already seen that he's not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations,'' Obama said.
