PRESIDENTIAL RACE Kerry campaign mulls delay in accepting nomination

Postponement would stave off spending limits.
BOSTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is considering delaying accepting his party's nomination to gain time to raise and spend private contributions and lessen President Bush's multimillion-dollar financial advantage, campaign officials said.
The proposal Friday would let Kerry hold off on spending his $75 million general-election budget for an extra month. The Democratic Party would still stage its national convention in Boston at the end of July, five weeks before the Republican National Convention in New York.
Kerry's campaign and the Democratic National Committee are still considering the specifics of such a plan. Campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the nomination officially takes place after the delegate roll-call vote, so Democrats would have to find a way to recreate that or change the party rules to delay the vote's impact for a month.
Kerry and President Bush are each expected to accept $75 million in full federal funding for their general-election campaigns. Once each is nominated, he will be limited to spending the government money and can no longer raise or spend private contributions on the campaign.
The Kerry campaign "won't fight with one hand behind our back," Cutter said.
"Never in Democratic Party history has any nominee raised as much money as John Kerry," she said. "We're going to continue to ambitiously fund-raise, and we believe our support will only grow."
News coverage
Television networks were uncertain Friday how Kerry's plan would affect their convention coverage, still in the planning stages. Over the past few conventions, broadcast networks have reduced their live coverage to a few hours a week.
"It's one more thing that's not happening at a convention," said Mark Lukasiewicz, in charge of special events coverage for NBC News. "It's one more thing to factor in as we decide how much resources -- financial and editorial -- we have to give to convention coverage."
A decision by the Kerry campaign could be weeks away. Other options being considered include having the DNC or local and state Democratic parties raise more money to support Kerry's candidacy, Cutter said. Kerry would have no control over much of the money raised by the party. By law, the DNC can coordinate up to roughly $16 million to $18 million in spending with Kerry's campaign in the general election.
Kerry himself declined to comment. Asked Friday whether he would accept his party's nomination in July, he smiled and said, "I will accept the nomination."
Avoiding limits
Kerry and Bush skipped public financing for the primary-election season, letting them spend as much as they wish until their parties officially nominate them at conventions this summer.
Since becoming the party's presumptive nominee in early March, Kerry has broken Democratic fund-raising and spending records. He raised roughly $31 million last month alone, pushing his campaign total to a Democratic record of $117 million.
Kerry started May with $28 million in the bank, far less than Bush's $72 million but still a Democratic record. Bush has raised more than $200 million so far.