outraise

Most candidates have reduced their expectations, hoping now to merely outraise the rest of the field.

"We will continue to greatly outraise the Democratic Party,"

The numbers leave little doubt that the mayor will significantly outraise and outspend the first lady in the race in New York.

It is an effort to counter the expectation that Mrs. Clinton, with her celebrity, will continue to outraise and outspend him.

"Never again, never, will the Republican Party outraise the Democratic National Committee," he said.

"Republicans typically outraise and outspend Democrats," Kim Rubey, the campaign committee's spokeswoman, said.

Bundling is also a major reason incumbents so easily outraise their challengers and so rarely lose their seats.

"While we expect that Rick Lazio and the national Republican fund-raising machine will outraise us, we are very proud of the support we have received."

While Mr. Corzine expects the Republicans to outraise Democrats in the homestretch, analysts in both parties now consider 11 of this year's 34 races competitive.

When financial disclosure reports were filed a few weeks before Election Day, Clinton, who had expected to far outraise his relatively unknown opponent, was shocked to learn that White had collected an impressive $400,000.

In the 1980 Republican primary, for example, John B. Connally, the former Texas governor, became the first candidate to reject public money and outraise his rivals, but his candidacy failed to catch on.

"The one advantage I would give them right now, it isn't financial because we've outraised them and we will continue to outraise them," Mr. Davis, who represents suburban northern Virginia and is in charge of the Republicans' election strategy, said about the Democrats.

That is a provocative notion, but it does not confront the most obvious problem in the current system, which is that incumbent lawmakers outraise and outspend their challengers - thus discouraging competition - and that much of their money is gathered by non-stop fund-raising from groups and individuals with business before the Government.