Following the money: how cash raised for the presidential race is being spent.(Feature)(Cover...

Money, it is said, is the mother's milk of U.S. politics. Endless gallons of ink are spilled every fourth year detailing the spiraling amounts of cash taken in by presidential candidates.

Far less notice is made of what the campaigns do with the money once they have it. Close examination of the spending reports the campaigns file with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) can be instructive; they illuminate not only the strategies of the Bush and Kerry campaigns in their battle for the White House, but more broadly illustrate the changing rules of the presidential race.