Bush's Cash Edge Over Kerry Narrows

By Lisa Getter

May 21, 2004 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON —

President Bush’s once-insurmountable cash advantage over Democratic rival John F. Kerry has dwindled in the wake of record spending by Bush and unexpected fundraising success by Kerry, according to figures provided by the campaigns Thursday.

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.

“Kerry’s going to be competitive from here on out,” he said.

Unlike the Democrats, Bush is not relying on the Internet to raise money. His campaign has collected $6.7 million online, with $900,000 of that in April; Kerry raised $35 million through the Internet in the first four months of the year.

Much of Bush’s money has come through his network of 187 Rangers and 268 Pioneers -- business executives, lobbyists, lawyers and others who have raised at least $200,000 or $100,000 apiece in individual donations.

Kerry has a similar network, though he calls his top fundraisers “vice-chairs” and “co-chairs.”

As of May 5, the Kerry campaign reported that it had 165 people who had raised more than $100,000 and an additional 172 who had raised more than $50,000. Among them are California Treasurer Phil Angelides, DreamWorks SKG co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, sports agent Arn Tellem, film director William Friedkin, and actor Dennis Hopper and his wife, Victoria.

Bush has stopped headlining fundraisers for his campaign -- he now appears at those benefiting the Republican National Committee and other Republican candidates. But the Bush campaign is still collecting donations through mail and phone solicitations. It raised $10.9 million in April via direct mail or phones, the campaign reported.

Kerry raised $10 million in direct mail in April as well.

Bush’s largest contributors hail from the finance and investment community.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter employees have contributed more than $505,000 to Bush, PriceWaterhouseCoopers employees have given $480,000 and Merrill Lynch employees have given $460,000, according to an analysis of Bush’s contributors by Dwight L. Morris and Associates, a campaign finance research firm in Virginia.

Both campaigns said they had unprecedented grass-roots support. Bush topped the 1-million mark in individual donors Wednesday after an e-mail campaign from former First Lady Barbara Bush, the president’s mother.

“President Bush’s supporters from every county in this nation are building the largest grass-roots campaign in presidential history,” Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman said in a statement.

The Kerry campaign said it had received money from 475,000 donors. On Saturday, Kerry supporters will raise money at nearly 2,000 “house parties” across the country.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Presidential election fundraising

George W. Bush

Total raised: $200 million

Cash on hand: $71.6 million

Total raised in April: $15.6 million

Total spent in April: $30 million

Total raised through direct mail/phone in April: $10.9 million

Total raised online in April: $900,000

John F. Kerry

Total raised: $115 million

Cash on hand: $28 million