Obama has more money to spend

Democrat Barack Obama's advantage in campaign cash for the stretch run became even clearer this morning when he filed his monthly report with the Federal Election Commission.

After spending $87.5 million in September, his campaign still began October with $133.6 million in the bank, thanks to his record-smashing $150 million haul during the month.

Republican rival John McCain spent $37 million last month, leaving him only $47 million in public money available through Election Day. McCain is accepting public financing, which gives him $84.1 million for the general election campaign, but also caps his spending at that amount.

An edge for the Republican National Committee over its Democratic counterpart is narrowing the gap somewhat -- the RNC reported $77 million on hand as of Sept. 30, compared to $27.4 million for the DNC -- but Obama still has far more money to plow into ads, get-out-the-vote efforts, and other initiatives in the final two weeks.