Bush's Cash Edge Over Kerry Narrows

Although Bush's reelection campaign is continuing to shatter fundraising records -- it passed the $200-million mark in April -- Kerry has raised $32 million more than the president in the last two months. He has now collected $115 million.

The president's campaign has spent $130 million, more than all the money Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, has raised since he announced his candidacy. Bush has spent so much of his money -- $80 million in March and April -- that the gap in cash available to the two candidates has been significantly narrowed.

The president now has about $72 million in cash, compared with $28 million for the presumptive Democratic nominee. At the end of last year, Kerry was so short of cash that he lent his campaign $6 million by taking out a mortgage on his family's Boston home.

"What once looked like an overwhelming war chest that would determine the outcome of this race has become much less of a factor because of Kerry's fundraising success," said campaign finance expert Anthony Corrado of Colby College in Maine.

Kerry's campaign Thursday gloated over its ability to slash Bush's cash-on-hand advantage, which was 55-to-1 in March and is now about 2.5-to-1. It has aggressively sought donations at fundraising events and through direct mail and the Internet.

"We have closed that gap so quickly because of the determination of our supporters, especially our grass-roots supporters," Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said.

Bush spent about $21 million on television advertising in April -- about half of what the campaign spent in March when it launched an onslaught of ads in 18 battleground states. Political experts say any positive effect from all that spending has been blunted by the daily barrage of bad news out of Iraq. Recent national polls now give Kerry a slight edge over Bush, although within the margin of error.

While Bush has scaled back his fundraising efforts, the Kerry campaign is still going full speed ahead. Kerry raised $30.9 million in April, compared with Bush's $15.6 million.

As the presidential race enters its last fundraising stretch before the summer's conventions, Corrado projected that Kerry would continue to raise more money than Bush in May.