The Forbes campaign has refused to say how much it is spending here, but rival campaigns estimate the figure at close to $2 million.

Observers for rival campaigns have the right to be present when the votes are counted.

The editorial was circulated to a handful of reporters on Monday by a rival campaign.

Moreover, strategists for rival campaigns are hardly ready to concede.

A Republican operative at another rival campaign said it would be much more economical to devote resources to the other contests that day.

"In their advertising they're trying to present him as a sober, serious person who handled big responsibilities well," a strategist for a rival campaign said.

Still, operatives in rival campaigns, publicly and privately, are dismissive.

Officials at rival campaigns said much the same thing.

In the general election, the two rival campaigns are financed with public funds.

"I don't like to discuss rival campaigns," he said.