From Holden:

As you know the Democratic National Convention was held one month earlier than the Republican National Convention, forcing John Kerry to stop spending his primary campaign funds a month before the Bushboy.

Many rightly saw that as a disadvangtage, but here’s the bright side: the candidates can use those funds for any post-election recount efforts, leaving John Kerry with a $24 million advantage over Georgie:

Sen. John F. Kerry may have a $24.8 million advantage over President George W. Bush in pursuing any recounts that result from Tuesday’s election, according to the campaigns’ most recent financial filings.

Under Federal Election Commission rules, both candidates are allowed to use remaining funds from their primary election committees to conduct recount activities, which in Kerry’s case amounts to just under $45 million. That compares to just more than $16 million left over in the Bush/Cheney primary election committee’s coffers.

Those funds, combined with the cash on hand each campaign reported for accounting and legal costs, give Kerry a total of $51.6 million that could possibly be used for potential recounts, according to the campaign’s pre-General Election filings. By contrast, the Bush campaign has $26.8 million.