As he makes the transition from a primary contender to a general-election candidate, Mr. Kerry has been steadily, if subtly, tinkering with his message.

And it's time for Federal law to provide free television time to statewide general-election candidates.

For all offices, 30 of 47 primary candidates participated, and 31 of 115 general-election candidates.

Mr. Giuliani is the first general-election mayoral candidate since the city's Campaign Finance Act was passed in 1988 to have an average contribution higher than the maximum that is matched with public funds.

The general-election candidates can also count on help from party committees and advocacy groups, which have raised money for months.

In such a volatile atmosphere, and with concerns among many Democrats about Mrs. Clinton's viability as a general-election candidate, party leaders believe there is at least a chance that a lesser-known candidate could emerge.

His idea is to provide an in-kind subsidy - free television time to general-election candidates for messages longer (and presumably more substantive) than the negative spots now fashionable.

Yet Mr. Bush has been around politics long enough to know that there is much that is appealing about Mr. McCain's message for a general-election candidate.

QUESTION FROM 10010: A lot of Democrats seem to think Gingrich would be a far weaker general-election candidate than Romney.

Yet several Democratic strategists say Dr. Dean may be knocking up against a ceiling here and in Iowa, another early-contest state, precisely because of recurrent questions about his viability as a general-election candidate.