As usual, The Times' diligent Dan Morain has the presidential fundraising story elsewhere on this website, focusing on Sen. John McCain.

But poring over the numbers reported late Sunday night by the also-rans and the never-were-really-in-it's, he compiled this table for Ticket readers.

Numbers are really intriguing, now that we're no longer in ninth grade algebra. For one thing, the sums spent to convince Americans to vote for a candidate are simply enormous: about $540 million so far. And there's still months to go!

Will we have a billion-dollar campaign season? For sure, with just the losers spending that $540 million. In 2004, about 121 million presidential votes were cast. Figure 10% growth for 2008 ballots and $1 billion spent and that's $7.50 for every single general election vote!

The per vote total will be even larger if, as is possible, Obama alone spends a half-billion dollars just so he can buy his daughters a dog.

Only three of the two-party panoply of losing candidates ended up with zero debt, all of them Republicans: Reps. Ron paul and Tom Tancredo and former Massacusettes Gov. Mitt Romney. (He can afford to forgive the $45 million of loans to himself.)

The biggest debt, not surprisingly, belong to Sen. Hillary Clinton, $25 million-worth, which Barack Obama has asked his supporters to help retire, with mixed success.

But added all together, the total outstanding debts still total more than $33 million, 76% of it belongs to Clinton. Rudy Giuliani still owes $3.6 million.

Mike Huckabee, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson, Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter have whittled their debts down some, but Joe Biden still reports a whopping $1.56 million. And Rep. Dennis Kucinich who seems always to be announcing another impeachment bid still owes nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.

By Andrew Malcolm, Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2008