Public Campaign Action Fund's David Donnelly has a letter in today's Washington Post explaining the distinction we've been talking about when it comes to how Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) measure up on the issue of public financing of elections: Obama has pledged support for public financing of federal elections, McCain has not.

Two years ago as President of Common Cause Chellie Pingree was asking candidates to sign the Voters First Pledge and commit to supporting full public financing of congressional campaigns. Now, as a candidate for Congress from Maine, where Clean Elections was passed in 1996, Pingree is signing on to Public Campaign Action Fund's 2008 Voters First Pledge. We look forward to seeing many more candidates take this pledge.

Trying to get a handle on where the leading presidential candidates stand on campaign finance, full public financing of elections, and the presidential public financing system? We just put together this memo for journalists and editorial board writers that helps to sort out the candidates' positions, and what we're asking them to commit to doing once in office.

In his final State of the Union address last night President Bush announced his intention to wield the veto pen against congressional earmarks but it's too little, too late for the billions in secret spending that have already been doled out for pork barrel project rewards to campaign contributors. Many, including Public Campaign Action Fund's David Donnelly, tell the Boston Globe that Bush should have gone much farther.

Kentucky's Courier-Journal and the AP have picked up on our analysis of Sen. Mitch McConnell's recent fundraising reports, as have bloggers at the Herald Leader and PageOneKentucky. McConnell intended for his big money announcement to dissuade challengers, but it has proved to further speculation about his chances come November.

New Jersey's Courier-News profiled Public Campaign Action Fund's David Donnelly this weekend. The article talks about what drew Donnelly to his work, which includes having managed the winning Maine and Massachusetts Clean Elections campaigns, and having developed innovative efforts to hold Tom DeLay and Ralph Reed accountable.