STEVE INSKEEP, Host: Here's NPR's Peter Overby.</s>PETER OVERBY: Professor Tony Corrado is a long-time observer of political money. He says the total raised is becoming less important as the first primaries and caucuses come into view.</s>TONY CORRADO: There's going to be real emphasis on how much cash on hand these candidates have because with so many states planning to vote in January, many of these candidates will start buying television and putting large sums of money out the door here in the late fall.</s>PETER OVERBY: Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.
Presidential hopefuls are soon to disclose how much money they raised for the third quarter that ended Sept. 30. But the money that the campaigns had on hand may even more critical, analysts say, and the major candidates weren't rushing to say how much they had.