Gore Is The $ Front-Runner
Newsflash! George W. Bush has less money than Al Gore.
Bush's latest spending report to the Federal Election Commission shows the Republican governor from Texas with just $7.5 million on hand at the beginning of March - a tenth of the $73.9 million bankroll he amassed while fighting off John McCain for the GOP presidential nomination.
In contrast, the Democratic vice president's spending slowed over the last two months of the primary season, as did the threat from challenger Bill Bradley. Gore was left with $10.4 million heading into the summer.
The spending reports were released Monday.
With some additional fund raising, Gore expects to have about $14 million to spend through the Democratic Party's nominating convention. If Bush reaches his goal of raising an additional $10 million, he would have about $17 million to spend before the Republican convention.
Each candidate will collect $67.6 million in federal funds after the August party meetings. Bush did not collect federal funds for his primary race, but, like Gore, he'll take advantage of federal money during the general election.
"Once they're nominated, they're going to get a check for about $67 million ... the taxpayers give the major parties $67 million each once they're nominated," Hotline Editor Craig Crawford told the CBS News Early Show Tuesday morning.
Gore expects to raise $400,000 at three fund-raisers this week, including events Tuesday in New York and New Jersey. Bush, who has raised $225,000 since securing the nomination March 14, plans a series of events through April in an attempt to raise another $10 million.
Both candidates also are expected to get help from their parties, which plan their own ad campaigns. Gore this week is scheduled to attend Democratic National Committee fund-raising events in Washington, Cincinnati, Detroit and Houston.
"This is not simply Bush vs. Gore. This is going to involve the money spent by the political parties," said Anthony Corrado, a professor of government at Colby College in Maine who studies political financing.
The February spending report details where much of Bush's historic treasury went.
A computer analysis shows $13.2 million spent last month - $7.6 million of it on advertising - in nine states with early primaries such as California, New York, South Carolina and Michigan. He won three of the four, ultimately forcing McCain from the race. Bush also spent $1.9 million on direct mail and postage, $236,000 on telemarketing, and $72,500 on polling.
The spending brought his total to $63.3 million at the beginning of the month. He also had $3.1 million in unpaid bills - including $874,921 for telemarketing and $1.1 million for direct mail - leaving him about $7.5 million available to spend.
In comparison, Gore reported having $4.1 million on hand at the end of February plus $7.3 million in unspent federal funds owed his campaign. He spent $6.1 million lat month, bringing his overall spending total to $33 million. He raised $2.1 million, bringing his fund-raising total to $37.2 million. Gore reported debts of $1 million.
Gore also disputed charges of more than $550,000, including $88,000 to his pollsters and $77,906 to his ad team. Spokesman Douglas Hattaway said the bills weren't paid because the campaign had yet to audit them.
CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report