Kerry Accelerates in Fundraising Race

The Democratic challenger, John Kerry, has raised more money in the last six months than President George Bush, with the party embracing the internet to help it cancel out what is a traditional republican advantage.

Mr Kerry raised more than $160m (£87m) in the first six months of this year, according to figures from the federal election commission, compared with $95m for Mr Bush.

The Republicans still have the overall advantage - and spokesmen noted that Mr Bush stopped focusing on fundraising last April - but even so, Mr Kerry has been raising money at an unprecedented pace. Last month alone, he raised $37.7m, nearly triple Mr Bush's monthly take of $13m.

He has matched Mr Bush's spending in key battlegrounds, thanks in part to support groups such as Moveon.org, which have helped to pay for media adverts.

The Democrats seem to owe their newfound prosperity to a confluence of events: technology; personal hostility to Mr Bush and the passions roused by the war in Iraq that have made this election a season for giving; and a shortened primary season that saw the early emergence of Mr Kerry as the presumptive nominee.

Taking a lead from Howard Dean, the failed Democratic contender who used the web to build a grassroots base, the Kerry campaign had used new technology to great effect, said Michael Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute.

That helped the Democrats overcome one of the traditional strengths in Republican fundraising, through direct mail, which is costlier and more-time consuming than soliciting funds over the internet.

"The Republicans for 25 years had this very large advantage in small donors based on direct mail, but they spent a lot of money to get it. This year the Democrats in a sense leapfrogged the technology and were able to raise a lot of money on the internet," Mr Malbin said. "The Democrats in a sense went to the next generation of fundraising."

The Democratic surge still leaves Mr Kerry far behind Mr Bush, who has $64m in hand for a television advertising blitz to steal the thunder from Mr Kerry after he is officially nominated at next week's party convention.