Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spent a record-shattering $75 million to become mayor in 2001, is ripping the city's campaign matching-funds system that's likely to funnel millions to his Democratic foes in 2005. In a fire-breathing speech to a judicial reform group in Manhattan yesterday, the multi-billionaire mayor went into attack mode on campaign finance - an issue opponents consider to be one of his weaknesses. The salvo came on a day when the Quinnipiac University poll measured Bloomberg's approval rating at 49 percent, a five-point increase since August. With a year to go before the election, Bloomberg outpaces all Democratic challengers except former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, who retains a 5-point advantage, according to the poll.
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