I wonder...

If Barack Obama accepts public financing for the general election, I believe he gets $85 million. Does the clock not start on that until after the convention and his nomination is formalized? Isn't $85 mil enough to last two months? Can he raise and spend at his current pace up until the Convention and just bury McCain early?

I've been collecting a lot of links and thoughts on this whole public finance issue, and my position has swung back and forth. Maybe I'll be able to bake them into a post later today, and finding out the answers to my questions above (which a short search did not reveal) will be decisive. I just hope Obama listens to what I come up with... ;-)