As we get into the full swing of the Presidential cycle in the next few months, many of the candidates will begin to scoop up donations from around the country in pursuit of qualifying for Federal matching funds.

In 1996, Libertarian Party presidential nominee Harry Browne qualified for $470,000 worth of government funds, but he refused to accept the money.

Here is the campaign’s original press release on the subject, dated several days before the 1996 election:

Harry Browne announces $470,000 ad blitz that won’t run on national TV before election

WASHINGTON, DC — Libertarian presidential candidate Harry Browne announced today that he won’t run $470,000 worth of television advertisements in the final few days of the campaign.

The ads not being run include 30-second and one-minute spots, as well as 30-minute infomercials. The ads won’t appear on Seinfeld, Monday Night Football, ER, or 60 Minutes.

The ads not being run are not being paid for by the $470,000 in federal matching funds that Browne would not accept.

“As you watch the millions of dollars worth of ads that Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, and Ross Perot are airing — paid for with taxpayers’ money — pause for a moment to think about the advertisements you’re not seeing for Harry Browne,” said Sharon Ayres, Browne’s campaign manager.

“You’re not seeing the ads because Mr. Browne refused to take the 30 pieces of silver the government wanted to give him: $470,000 in federal matching funds. The price of that principled refusal? The ads that aren’t being broadcast on television this week,” she said.

According to campaign documents on file with the Federal Election Commission, Browne raised enough money during his campaign to qualify for $470,000 in federal matching funds.

However, saying he “doesn’t believe in welfare for politicians,” Browne became the first politician in American history to turn down campaign money from the federal government.

“As a result, Americans are being blitzed by television ads for Clinton, Dole, and Perot — paid for by the $60 million in taxpayers’ money that Clinton eagerly accepted, the $60 million that Dole pocketed, and the $30 million that Perot scooped up,” said Ayres.

“In other words, a nation that is $5.2 trillion in debt is plunging $150 million deeper in debt — so three politicians can hypocritically claim in their TV ads that if elected, they will work to reduce the deficit.

“By contrast, the ads that Harry Browne won’t air are eloquent — if silent — testimony to the one candidate who is genuinely committed to ending America’s orgy of red ink. In a nation corrupted by the politics of hypocrisy, Mr. Browne’s silence should ring louder than the Liberty Bell. That silence is the sound of a man who refused to be bought — and who refused to compromise his principles” said Ayres.

Browne’s campaign is launching a last-minute advertising blitz, said Ayres, but it’s being paid for entirely by voluntary contributions from individuals.

Thirty-second spots promoting his candidacy are airing on the nationwide CNN cable network and the A&E Television Network.

Radio ads are airing on numerous syndicated programs, including Imus in the Morning, the Michael Reagan Show, the Lowell Ponte Show, the Mary Matalin Show, the Art Bell Show, America the Beautiful with Mike Foudy, and the Doug Casey Show.

“If you see or hear any of these ads for Harry Browne, remember: They were paid for honestly, by Americans who support his ideas and principles,” said Ayres. “We hope that this strategy will prove that integrity is the most powerful advertisement.”