Good for Obama that he opted out of public campaign finance. Republican outrage couldn't be more entertaining, because they're going to lose, and they know it.

Republicans were quite happy with McCain-Feingold when they could effortlessly raise $250,000 at a dinner event, while Democrats had to struggle and contort and act like Republicans-lite, just to stay competitive raising $175,000 dinners.

McCain's problem is twofold. Republican donors don't like him because he's neither an hereditary member of the patrician class, nor a religious nut. He's a Navy man who married the wealthy heiress of a beer man, who The Base had to crush, in order to annoint W.

Also, the Bush Administration is such an unprecedented disaster that Republicans don't even like Bush any more. The religious nuts are openly threatening to sit this one out. The patricians must be thinking they had a pretty good run, but now it's time to lie low while Democrats clean up the mess.

So McCain has no choice but to accept public financing, and hope Obama plays the high-minded sucker by following suit. McCain's gamble failed. Good.