Bloomberg.com has an interesting article online today entitled: Watergate-Era Fundraising Returns With Clinton, Obama, Giuliani. They point out, that for the first time ever, the top contenders for both the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries are opting out of public financing to go after bigger corporate money:

Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have joined Republicans including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in declining federal subsidies. Instead, they are raising millions from corporate executives and wealthy supporters, threatening to make 2008 the first election since Richard Nixon won his second term in 1972 in which both parties' nominees will have been completely financed by private sources.

The lack of public financing will magnify the power of lobbyists and other well-connected givers who collect and ``bundle'' donations from their family, friends and associates. Besides enhancing fundraisers' influence in Washington, supporters of campaign limits say, it may also sow the seeds for another massive scandal like Watergate, which drove Nixon from office and shook citizens' faith in their government for a generation.

``The amount of money that's being raised this cycle raises the specter of the presidency going back on the auction block,'' says Meredith McGehee, policy director for the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington group that favors curbs on political donations.

In contrast, Edwards has committed to public financing. Edwards recently told CNN:

"This is not about a money calculation," Edwards told CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley on his way to an event in Durham, New Hampshire. "This is about taking a stand, a principled stand, and I believe in public financing."