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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jerrel Peters who wrote (384611)	4/3/2003 11:49:54 AM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769667

* Probable Dem ticket, Kerry, Edwards Lead Campaign Cash Race By SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer Wed Apr 2, 7:02 PM ET WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kerry (news, bio, voting record) said Wednesday he has raised about $7 million for his Democratic presidential bid so far this year, putting him neck-and-neck with Sen. John Edwards (news, bio, voting record) as a leader in the race for 2004 campaign cash. In addition to his fund raising, Kerry's White House run got a boost from $2.9 million he transferred from his Massachusetts Senate campaign after his re-election last year, putting his total receipts at $10 million. Kerry said he had $8 million of that on hand to spend, the most so far and $1.2 million more than then-Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites) had on hand at this stage in the 2000 campaign. Edwards of North Carolina was the first of the nine Democratic presidential hopefuls to disclose his first-quarter fund-raising total. Edwards said Tuesday that he has collected about $7.4 million so far this year and hasn't tapped the $1.4 million in his Senate campaign fund. The early totals are considered an important sign of a campaign's viability, although some Democratic strategists say the next six months are more crucial. That's when candidates must move beyond the easiest money — home-state donors, friends and family — and develop a broader national base of support. "We'll see just how predictive the first-quarter fund-raising results are," Kerry campaign manager Jim Jordan said. "We're extremely impressed by Senator Edwards' number, although not enormously surprised. But we're ahead of schedule, ahead of plan, ahead of budget and very comfortable with where we are." Sen. Joe Lieberman (news - web sites), Gore's running mate in 2000, said Wednesday he raised at least $3 million so far this year. Two-thirds came in the past month. The Connecticut senator began his campaign in January after Gore's decision not to run freed him from his self-imposed promise to stay out of the race if Gore was in it. While other hopefuls including Kerry, Edwards and Howard Dean began putting their fund-raising operations in place months earlier, Lieberman's hired a finance director in March and held fund-raisers in California, New York and Chicago, key stops on the Democratic money trail. "Despite a late start, once our fund-raising operation was firmly in place, we hit our stride, raising over $2.1 million or approximately 70 percent of our total in a single month," campaign manager Craig Smith said. Lieberman's total doesn't include $400,000 in his Senate campaign. Dean, the former Vermont governor, raised at least $2.6 million from January through March, exceeding his goal by about $1 million. Dean said his campaign had more than $2 million on hand to spend. Dean has relied heavily on Internet fund raising, and it appeared to pay off. He collected at least $730,000 over the Internet, including $400,000 the last week of March. Kerry raised more than $450,000 on the Internet. Overall, his contributions came from all 50 states, led by Massachusetts with $2.1 million and California with $1.6 million. Though Kerry and Edwards led in early fund raising, money isn't everything; Dean and Kerry emerged in a statistical dead heat as the leaders in a recent poll of likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire. Other Democratic hopefuls including Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt (news - web sites) planned to release their totals in coming days. A complete rundown of their finances will come in reports they will file with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) later this month. All but Kerry, Lieberman and Florida Sen. Bob Graham (news, bio, voting record) have committed to accepting public financing and the spending limits that come with it. Some of the candidates who are taking public funding — financed by taxpayers with a $3 checkoff on their tax returns — have promised to make it an issue if others opt out. Jordan said Kerry wants to keep his options open. It could be "strategically advantageous to opt out of the system, given that we'll be running against an incumbent president who will himself opt out and raise anywhere from $250 million to $300 million," Jordan said. President Bush (news - web sites) has not committed to seeking re-election, but is considered likely to forgo public funding in the primaries. He did so in 2000 and raised more than $100 million; with individual contribution limits now doubled to $2,000, some supporters think he could raise $200 million or more.