This is from the New York Times tomorrow:
Howard Dean's high-spending campaign rolled through $31.7 million last year, before a single vote was ever cast, according to a report released Saturday.
The campaign raised $41 million in 2003 and carried almost $9.7 million into the new year before a spending spree in Iowa and New Hampshire emptied Dr. Dean's wallet without producing victories.
Last week, officials said the campaign, which is not running television advertisements and has temporarily suspended staff salaries, had about $3 million left.
"We spent a lot of money building a broad national organization," said Sarah Leonard, a campaign spokeswoman. "We had to spend a great deal of money in summer and fall just to introduce Governor Dean."
The report showed millions in expenses for advertising, direct mail, transportation and staff. Among the payments was about $7.2 million for media expenses to Trippi McMahon Squire Media since March, according to PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks campaign finance.
Joe Trippi, Dr. Dean's former campaign manager, is a partner at the firm, though he was on a hiatus to deal with the campaign. Mr. Trippi left the campaign this week, following the two primary losses and the hiring of Roy Neel, a former White House aide and lobbyist, as the new campaign chief.
The report does not say how much of what the firm received was spent to buy advertising. Mr. Trippi said that most of the money was spent on advertisements, though he did not cite specifics.
"All that is money paid to stations," he said. "That's buy money."
Dr. Dean's expenditures have drawn awe from rivals and political analysts, who have watched him fall from the best-financed Democrat in the race to a candidate scrambling for money.
"That's a lot of money," said Donna Brazile, who ran Al Gore's campaign in 2000. "I can't imagine spending that much."
Dr. Dean's report to the Federal Election Commission shows that the campaign raised almost $16 million and spent nearly $18.8 million in the fourth quarter. It was the first time his expenses exceeded his contributions. The campaign also reported about $1.2 million in debt.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/01/politics/campaign/01DONA.html
