WASHINGTON -- Presidential candidate John F. Kerry may delay his official nomination for about a month after the Democratic National Convention in late July, a highly unusual tactic that his campaign said would erase President Bush's financial advantage in the general election.
The strategy is fraught with legal and political complications, but Kerry advisors said it would address his major handicap heading into the fall: the prospect of having to make his public financing last five weeks longer than President Bush.
Once Bush and Kerry are officially nominated by their parties, they will no longer be permitted to raise and spend private donations. Instead, each will receive $75 million in federal funds for the general election.
By postponing his official nomination -- an unparalleled move for a presidential candidate -- Kerry could spend his privately raised donations for longer and receive his public funding at about the same time as Bush. The president is to be nominated at the Republican convention in early September in New York, five weeks after Democrats gather in Boston.
The Massachusetts senator demurred when asked about the possible delay of his nomination.
"The decision hasn't been made," Kerry told The Times. "But I am for anything that would level the playing field."
The prospect of a delayed nomination underscored the increasingly potent role money is playing in the 2004 presidential campaign. It also illustrated the continuing erosion of the public financing system, as candidates seek new ways to maximize what they can raise and spend.
The risk for Kerry of postponing his official nomination is dampening media interest in the four-day convention, which historically has provided presidential candidates with invaluable television exposure to voters.
The gatherings provide an opportunity for candidates, particularly challengers, to drive home their message and personal story to a national audience. Kerry would still deliver a speech, aides said, but without the official imprimatur of the nomination, it is unclear how much weight it would carry.
That the campaign was considering such a drastic step in order to recover a financial advantage immediately provoked consternation among campaign finance reform advocates and puzzlement from the rival camp.
Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for Bush's reelection effort, said postponing the nomination would negate the entire purpose of the convention.
