I am under the impression that both candidates were going to take only public financing and that Obama suckered McCain by signing a pledge then not honoring it.
You both make good points. Obama was using Rule 4 from Alinsky's
Rules for Radicals
RULE 4: "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules."
The rules that are being used in this planted story of Palin vs. McCain are rules 5, 8, and 12. Our side needs to learn to use these rules successfully against the left.