US elections projected to cost record $3.9b

And that will not include money spent on gubernatorial and other local contests, as well on a plethora of political referendums held by individual states on issues ranging from gay marriage to parental notifications about teenage pregnancies.

The nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics said, in a report released Thursday, the estimated costs represented a 30 percent increase over the three billion dollars that are believed to have been spent on federal elections four years ago.

"The 2004 presidential and congressional elections will shatter previous records for spending, and the biggest reason is the increase in giving by individuals to candidates and parties," observed Larry Noble, executive director of the think tank.

The presidential race alone, fueled by massive spending by President George W. Bush and his Democratic rival, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, their respective parties and a multitude of support groups, will cost an unprecedented 1.2 billion or more, the report pointed out.

So far, the Bush campaign has spent a little over 278 million dollars, producing television and other media advertisements, airing them in battleground states, paying pollsters, campaign strategists and crisscrossing the country.

It has an additional nearly 152 million on hand to spend on the home stretch of the race that will conclude on November 2.

Kerry's war chest, according to the center, is a little more modest, but still will put to shame any of the candidates that ran for the White House in 1976.

The Democratic hopeful has spent so far more than 197.5 million dollars and has 113.5 million in cash on hand to continue buying advertising time and stump in states he believes he can win.

By comparison, all the candidates involved in the 1976 presidential race won by Jimmy Carter raised a total of 171 million dollars, the center said.