President Obama, Mitt Romney and other federal candidates can immediately start collecting contributions through text messaging services under a unanimous decision late Monday by the Federal Election Commission.
The ruling could open the floodgates to a whole new source of money for campaigns that are already pushing to raise as much cash as possible in preparation for the November elections. The proposal had attracted support from both parties as well as watchdog groups, who view it as a potential counterweight to the role of wealthy donors in politics.