That leaves only self-financed candidates with the ability to get in the game.

Despite these misgivings, Professor Etzioni said he would prefer to see a crop of wealthy, self-financed candidates rather than relying on the current system.

The interesting thing is that self-financed candidates don't win as often as you'd think.

I think if you take a look at the history of self-financed candidates, three-quarters lose.

The voters in campaigns dominated by a rich, self-financed candidate are not getting a charitable civic gift.

Under current campaign finance law, self-financed candidates are barred from participating.

The council wants to discourage free spending by wealthy, self-financed candidates like Mr. Bloomberg.

Yet the challenges for self-financed candidates can pile up as high as the $100 bills.

And self-financed candidates often bristle under the press scrutiny of their tax returns or their motives for running.

The statistics of self-financed candidates say three out of four lose.