John McCain and the Republican National Committee (RNC) started August with a hefty $96 million, financially flush and strongly positioned to compete with prolific fundraiser Barack Obama and the Democrats.
McCain builds war chest with record fundraising
August 16, 2008 at 1:11AM
Republicans have been trying to even out the financial playing field after trailing Democrats in overall fundraising for most of the election cycle. McCain has been a subpar fundraiser, but the RNC, with big-draw President Bush helping, has trounced its Democratic counterpart in collections. That has helped McCain and the GOP stay competitive with Obama and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
The July numbers reflect how far McCain and the Republicans have come. McCain raised $27 million, his largest one-month haul since clinching the GOP presidential nomination, and had $21 million available to spend, while the RNC brought in nearly $26 million, and had $75 million on hand to compete with the Democrats.
McCain now has 600,000 donors, while the party announced it had reached 1 million. By comparison, Obama alone recently surpassed 2 million contributors, giving him a larger pool of donors to hit up again. He and the DNC have not yet disclosed their monthly takes.
Unlike McCain, Obama has rejected public financing. Experts have been predicting that each side will spend upward of $400 million on the general election.
FEC ready to rule in mccain's favor
A draft opinion from the Federal Election Commission says John McCain has not violated any campaign finance laws while running for president. The dispute began with a loan McCain took out late last year. It wasn't directly secured by his potential access to public funds, but McCain agreed to reapply for public funds and use that money as collateral if he lost early primary contests.
The Democratic National Committee says McCain violated a section of finance law that bars candidates from withdrawing from the public system if they've "pledged public funds as security for private financing."
FEC lawyers say McCain never made that pledge. The FEC should formally vote on the matter next week.
NO COMMENT ON BOOK ABOUT OBAMA
John McCain's campaign had no comment Friday about a controversial book that attacks Barack Obama and many say is riddled with errors.
Jerome Corsi's book, "The Obama Nation," depicts the Democratic candidate as a dangerous, radical figure filled with "black rage." It repeats numerous falsehoods, such as the claim that Obama, who is a Christian, is a Muslim.
A reporter asked McCain for a comment in Aspen, Colo., as journalists were being escorted from a photo opportunity. McCain smiled and said, "Gotta keep your sense of humor."
Spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said McCain did not hear the question and that the campaign had no comment.
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While the focus was on Vice President Kamala Harris in their first media interview of the presidential campaign, Walz was asked if voters could take him at his word.
