[00:03.71]records as they head into the 2004 election year.

[00:07.09]Raising money to pay for election campaigns

[00:09.97]has become an essential part of American politics.

[00:13.03]President Bush made headlines recently with news that during 2003,

[00:17.86]his campaign had already raised more than $130 million for his re-election bid.

[00:23.83]This figure broke a previous record of $100 million that he set in 2000.

[00:28.73]The Democratic candidate with the most money, Howard Dean,

[00:32.11]raised more than $40 million in 2003,

[00:35.42]an amount that shattered the one-year record

[00:37.51]for Democratic party presidential campaign fundraising.

[00:40.72]Candidates from either party can accept federal funds for their campaigns,

[00:45.18]but they must abide by spending limits. Mr. Bush, Mr. Dean,

[00:49.14]and another Democratic candidate, Senator John Kerry,

[00:52.56]have all opted out of the system.

[00:54.86]As the leading challenger,

[00:56.77]Mr. Dean still only has about one-fourth of the president's

[00:59.98]financial war chest. At a recent Democratic debate,

[01:03.40]he contended that he and his fellow candidates are at a serious disadvantage.

[01:08.47]"The front-runner in this campaign is George W. Bush,

[01:11.10]and all the powerful people who've given him millions of dollars

[01:13.76]and benefited from his policies,"he said.

[01:15.17]The importance of money is evident in the amount of time presidential candidates,

[01:19.63]including the incumbent president, spend fundraising.

[01:23.05]At a fundraiser in Maryland in December, President Bush thanked donors,

[01:28.27]and said he hopes their financial support will

[01:30.47]translate into votes for him at the polls.

[01:33.38]"I want to thank you for your contributions," he said.

[01:36.37]"I also want to thank you for the contribution of time you're going to make."

[01:40.84]Why does money matter? Steve Weiss,

[01:43.28]of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics,

[01:46.20]a group that tracks money in American politics and its effect on elections,

[01:50.41]says money helps improve a candidate's chances of success.

[01:54.77]"In elections overall, roughly nine out of ten times,

[01:58.55]the candidate who spends the most money wins the elections," he said.

[02:02.62]"That's most often true in congressional elections,

[02:05.89]but the same principle applies to presidential elections.

[02:08.92]Money doesn't buy you elections,

[02:11.00]but it can go a long way to strengthening your candidacy."

[02:15.79]Republicans historically have raised more money than their Democratic rivals.

[02:20.08]But Joe Sandler, a lawyer who served as in-house legal counsel

[02:24.04]for the Democratic National Committee for five years in the 1990s,

[02:27.82]says that has not stopped Democratic candidates from winning elections.

[02:32.28]"We were vastly outspent in 1992, when we won the presidency," he said.

[02:35.88]"We were vastly outspent in 1996,

[02:38.22]when President Clinton was the first Democratic

[02:41.32]president to be re-elected in 40 year,

[02:46.03]and so - we need enough to be competitive.

[02:49.81]We don't have any illusions it will ever be at parity."

[02:54.28]That underdog spirit is apparently driving Carol Moseley Braun,

[02:58.45]who was the only woman in a field of nine Democratic presidential candidates.

[03:03.24]Before she dropped out of the race,

[03:05.15]the former Illinois senator is reported to have raised only

[03:08.42]several hundred thousand dollars and was trailing in nationwide support.

[03:11.59]"When you start off being different, you have to campaign differently, " she said.

[03:15.88]"And we've done the best we can within the resources that

[03:18.90]we have to get around to the states that are involved in this process.

[03:23.51]I have done more with less money."

[03:25.49]As states go through their own Democratic caucuses and primaries,

[03:29.38]candidates who lack electoral support will have

[03:32.29]trouble raising money and will be forced to quit the race.

[03:35.60]"The ability to raise money, and fundraising itself, is hugely important.

[03:35.68]It signals a well-organized campaign,"

[03:39.28]"It shows strength and the enhanced ability to win an election.

[03:47.53]And it shows popular support as well.

[03:51.31]If you're not raising much money,

[03:53.50]it just doesn't bode well for your campaign in a number of respects."

[03:58.72]Mr. Weiss, whose group tracks the influence of money in politics,

[04:02.43]says voters would be wise to not only pay attention to

[04:05.92]which candidates are raising the most money,

[04:08.33]but also to which groups or individuals may be contributing money,

[04:12.33]in hopes of influencing the various candidates.