"Responding to his request for clarification, the Federal Election Commission signaled that Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign may be able to solicit private contributions for the 2008 general election while remaining eligible for public financing for that same contest," the Chicago Tribune reports.
Obama and his two top rivals for the Democratic nomination -- John Edwards and Sen. Hillary Clinton -- have all said they would likely reject the spending limits imposed by accepting public financing for the election. "But Obama wanted to see if he had the option of reversing course and then use public financing, should he win the nomination and be able to convince his Republican opponent to also limit spending."