While I’m posting an inexplicable amount, let me just say that I appreciate Matt’s response to my post about Dylan Ratigan’s proposed ban on money in elections. In principle I agree that public financing could help with this problem. In practice, I think it’s very, very rare that campaigns feel they spend beyond the point of diminishing returns (you do occasionally hear this about particular states or markets, so it’s possible, just rare). That means that raising outside money will still be perceived as an advantage, which means politicians will keep doing it. Public funds might just inflate the prices of things that campaigns buy.
But hey, maybe not. I suppose the elasticity of fundraising behavior is the real question here (it might even be one that could be empirically tested). Perhaps easier money would help, but I think there are reasons — mostly having to do with the culture of Capitol Hill — for doubting it.