McCain Has Record Fundraising Month
Still far short of the vast amounts HillBama raise, but a gain is a gain:
Senator John McCain raised approximately $18 million during the month of April, according to a spokeswoman for his campaign.
That is the most that McCain has raised in any month of the campaign so far. But it is less than half of what the Obama campaign says it raised in the month of March, $41 million, and less than what Senator Clinton reoprtedly raised that month as well, $20 million.
The Democratic rivals have not yet released their April fundraising numbers.
The Arizona Republican, who is scheduled to receive the nomination of his party for president in September, has dedicated considerable time and resources to his fundraising effort in recent weeks.
McCain’s campaign, which needed a $4 million loan in order to keep operating at the end of 2007, has seen a remarkable turnaround in its fundraising prowess. At a New York City fundraiser in early May, McCain raised $7 million in one evening.
Under a new fundraising structure created by the campaign and the Republican National Committee, a donor can give up to $70,000 to the “McCain Victory 2008,” significantly more than the $2,300 individual donor limit set by campaign finance laws. If a donor gives the maximum amount the money is split into multiple funds that all benefit McCain’s campaign: the first $2,300 of that money goes to the McCain campaign itself, the next $28,000 goes to the RNC, and the rest is divided among four swing states the campaign plans to target in the general election. Those targeted states are: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado and New Mexico.
Interesting that this early on McCain is targeting Wisconsin and Minnesota - both States when for Kerry in 2004, and McCain is already trying to poach them…and I’ll bet he’s got a good shot at both. The bad news is that we’ve got to shore ourselves up in Colorado, which is becoming the most Democrat of the Mountain West States (though still, on balance, Republican); New Mexico is a State we lost in 2000, won in 2004…both by excruciatingly narrow margins, so it could literally go either way in 2008.
Anyways, a good month for McCain on a lot of levels - Democrats still battling, Obama on the defensive and looking absurd on foreign affairs, Democrats still spending money like water, McCain able to present a consistent message of genuine reform…and his fundraising is picking up. Now, how about you stop by and pony up?
29 comments May 21st, 2008
