John Kerry becomes the second Democrat to announce he will forego federal funds for his campaign. Kerry will spend his own money and take out a loan.

Kerry's decision to skip the $18.7 million in public money comes despite a slowdown in his fund raising after a promising start, and the acknowledgment by his campaign that he cannot tap wife Teresa Heinz Kerry's multimillion-dollar Heinz food fortune for the race.

Under campaign laws, Kerry can take out loans on the full value of property he owns, and on half the value of property he co-owns. His wife can co-sign loans if the bank requires, but she cannot pay them back. She is limited to the same $2,000 limit all individual donors face.

Howard Dean made the same announcement last week. Wesley Clark says he will accept federal funds. The other candidates also will accept federal funding, including Dick Gephardt, John Edwards and Joe Lieberman.

We see a big difference between Dean and Kerry in that Dean has been a very successful fundraiser to date, while Kerry has not been. As DHinMI over at Daily Kos says,

...unlike Dean, whose decision appears based on his ability to raise money, Kerry's decision appears based on his desperate need to spend money in Iowa and New Hampshire if his campaign is expected to survive past the New Hampshire primary.

[Ed. grammatical errors corrected.]