11.   For most of the summer, Democrats have outspent Republicans in the ad war, as Gore tried to catch Bush, who was leading in the polls.

12.   Gimmicks aside, strategists in both parties say that Democrats have a financial interest in postponing the party ad wars.

13.   It was an outside group, the AFL-CIO, that fired the first shot in the local ad wars last August.

14.   McCain hopes to benefit from an expected ad war between Bush and Forbes, who has a history of going negative.

15.   Since then, both parties have spent millions on an unusually early and aggressive TV ad war.

16.   The brewing ad war reflects the huge money gap separating Bush and Forbes from the rest of the eight-person GOP field.