I know it's unwise to trust the New York Times, but I still (mostly, kind of) trust them to do basic arithmetic. So this can't be good:

Two of the leading Republican presidential candidates spent more than they raised this summer, according to campaign finance reports filed yesterday, in another sign of the fund-raising difficulties the party faces as it seeks to hold on to the White House.

It gets worse:

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, raised $9.5 million in contributions over the summer but spent more than twice that, $21.3 million.

Mr. Romney, a wealthy businessman, lent his campaign $8.5 million over the summer, and even with that large loan, which helped pay for a big television ad campaign, his expenses still outpaced his receipts. His campaign reported that it had $9.2 million in the bank that could be used for the primary elections.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, raised more money than any other Republican this summer — $11.6 million — but he also spent more than he raised, burning through $13.3 million without running a single television commercial

If these guys are running as fiscal conservatives -- and they are -- then they aren't exactly setting a good example. Then again, if they're running against any of our recent Congresses, then they still look pretty swell in comparison.