(Video) Biden: Money will limit diversity in 2008 race

New fundraising results for the first quarter of 2006 show Hillary Clinton has raised a record $26 million, which does not include the other $11 million that she has left from her 2006 Senate campaign bank account.

With a surge of states scheduling their primaries for February 5th, money will play an even larger factor in this presidential primary race.  More states in play means more spending on micro-targeting and grassroots outreach.  If you are not bringing in at least $10 million per month starting this fall, then it will be difficult to compete in California, Florida and New Jersey -- just some of the many states that will cast ballots on February 5th.

So what does this do to the power of ideas?  Will second tier candidates like Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, and Dennis Kucinich even last through this summer?  On Fox News Sunday, Joe Biden admitted that if this is a money game, then pretty soon only a few candidates will be left standing:

BIDEN: But Chris, if this comes down to just straight money, then there's only going to be one, maybe two candidates, in the race.

Do we need real campaign finance reform?  Or does that limit free speech?  Or, better yet, is money completely different than free speech?