ASHINGTON - For now, presidential candidates are receiving just under half the federal matching funds they are entitled to, the government said yesterday. The candidates will eventually get the full amounts, but not until after April 15. So few taxpayers have checked the box diverting $3 to the presidential campaign fund that there is not enough money in the fund now to give the candidates all of their money. Seven current candidates and one former candidate will get $16.9 million of the $34 million they are entitled to. The federal government matches the first $250 of each individual contribution to candidates agreeing to limit their campaign spending for the primaries. (AP)
Bush, Forbes file for N.Y. primary
ALBANY - Supporters of Texas Governor George W. Bush and publisher Steve Forbes filed petitions yesterday to secure spots on New York's March 7 presidential primary ballot. Meanwhile, the head of Senator John McCain's New York effort said the Arizona Republican would probably qualify presidential delegate slates through the petition process in a majority, but not all of the state's 31 congressional districts. McCain is simultaneously pursuing a federal lawsuit aimed at getting his prospective convention delegates on the ballot throughout the state. Forbes met for more than an hour in New York City with leaders of the state's tiny but politically influential Conservative Party, courting support. (AP)
