From the cowards at the AP, which still hasn't sued me for pasting portions of their articles:
Obama reported spending $55 million in July, his highest in a single month, spending about $33 million on producing and airing commercials. McCain reported spending $32 million in July, with nearly $2 of every $3 devoted to advertising.
Documents filed with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday show Obama raised $50 million and had about $66 million in the bank at the start of August. McCain reported raising more than $26 million during the month. He began August with more than $21 million in the bank.
The two candidates spent aggressively on advertising. McCain targeted about 11 traditional battleground states and Obama ran ads in 18 states, expanding his sights to states that have voted Republican in the past.
$55 million in one month ... that was more than John Edwards would've been allowed to spend entirely between January 2007 through the convention. Regardless of how efficiently Obama may or may not be spending that money, fact is that without dramatic changes in the law, no presidential candidate can take public financing in the primary and hope to be competitive in this day and age.