Reply #11: Unless the candidate plans to try and buy the election, matching funds is not a big handicap.

[Stop Cornyn]

Hillary has $48.1
Obama has $34.6
Edwards has $12.4
Richardson has $5.7
Dodd has $3.9
Biden has $1.8
Kucinich has $.3

The truth is that Hillary, Obama, Edwards, Richardson, Dodd, and Biden have enough money to get through Iowa (45 more days). Kucinich could probably benefit from matching funds over the next 45 days, but he is running to gain a platform for his great message and not running to win. Gravel never raised enough that "matching" would make a difference.

If Edwards, Obama, Richardson, Biden, or Dodd candidate wins Iowa, they'll get the enough money to run through Super Tuesday, and the race won't really go past Mid-February. If they don't win Iowa, they're not going to win New Hampshire either, and if they can't win either of those races, they can't catch Hillary (one possible exception: if Obama or Edwards finishes 2nd in both Iowa and New Hampshire they might still have an outside shot as the not-Hillary candidate once every other not-Hillary candidates falls out).

So ... what does the decision to accept matching funds indicate? It indicates nothing more than the fact that the candidate has chosen to campaign past Iowa no matter how they'll do.

Finally, look at Biden's numbers. Ask yourself: are the federal matching caps even an issue for him? Clearly, not.