The Filing Campaigns Bet You'll Never Open

Friday morning, BTP Insiders opened the Election Room: the full map of the money behind the closing stretch.

That read stays behind the door. This section comes with you, because it works on any race, in any state, in about ten minutes.

The three tells in the last money report

Every competitive campaign has now filed its final full report before the vote. The documents sit on fec.gov: search the candidate, open the newest filing, and look for three things.

• Cash on hand against the calendar. A campaign showing thin cash this close to the vote either goes dark or gets rescued from outside. Watch which happens: the rescue tells you who holds the account.

• The 48-hour notices. Through Election Day, any contribution of $1,000 or more must be reported within 48 hours. The panic money (and the confidence money) shows up here first, in near-real time.

• The inside-outside ratio. Compare what the candidate's committee spends to what super PACs report spending on the same race. When the outside number dwarfs the inside one, you know who the winner answers to.

Insiders get this every Friday with the names filled in and the filings linked. Until November 3, the room is free to claim: sixty days, no card, nothing to cancel.

Burn Notice: The filings are public. The campaigns bet you'll never look them up. Eight days left to claim the room free. Take the sixty days and call the bet.

Michael