BY FROSTY TROY

Could Barack Obama’s record-setting fundraising be the death knell of campaign-finance “reform”?

After saying he would accept public funding and live within the prescribed spending limits, Obama changed course – gambling that he could raise more privately. He raked in an more than $600 million.

John McCain took public funding, criticizing Obama for going back on his pledge. Before it was over, the McCain campaign wished they had also backed out.

It’s a good thing Obama did. He had enough money to combat the Swift Boat-style liars and their millions in attack ads. Obama’s gargantuan haul was an expression of the public’s enthusiasm.

In the future few, if any, candidates will accept public funding as long as monied conservatives such as T. Boone Pickens can raise $30 million to destroy reputations as they did in the case of John Kerry.