US presidential candidate McCain trails in 2008 fundraising
US presidential hopeful John McCain revealed that his fundraising is lagging far behind his Republican rivals, as final first-quarter results began to trickle out Sunday in the all-important race for campaign donations.
Disclosure reports on candidate campaign finances were due to be filed up until midnight on Sunday.
Fundraising prowess is considered a critical measure of the vitality of each of the White House campaigns, and more so than ever with the cost of mounting a presidential challenge spiraling higher with each successive election season.
The 2008 election is tipped to be the most expensive ever at some one billion dollars for the presidential race alone, with billions more spent on congressional, state and local races.
McCain -- formerly a Republican frontrunner -- had 5.2 million dollars available by the end of March, less than half the amount of his main Republican rivals, the senator's campaign disclosed late Saturday.
His support is said to have fallen in part because of his staunch support for President George W. Bush's unpopular military strategy in Iraq -- even in the face of growing public unease with the US military presence there.
Rival Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani -- former mayor of New York City -- reported a campaign war chest of 10.8 million and Mitt Romney, the ex-governor of Massachusetts, had 11.9 million, according campaign disclosure reports, which showed he garnered some 20.7 million dollars in contributions.
The financial figures represented more bad news for McCain who was initially considered the Republican party favorite but has been trailing in opinion polls, even as his expensive campaign operation burns through cash and has some 1.8 million dollars in unpaid bills.
By contrast, Giuliani reported only 89,000 dollars in debts and Romney's only debt was a 2.35 million dollar loan he made to his campaign from personal funds.
McCain raised some 13 million dollars during the period -- nearly as much as Giuliani -- but dipped deeper into his campaign's coffers, spending some 8.4 million dollars.
Giuliani's campaign is based largely on his leadership after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, a role which earned him hero status in New York City and across the country.
Earlier this month, McCain announced a shakeup of his fundraising operation, and he cut back his campaign staff to control runaway expenses.
McCain, who has trailed Giuliani in the polls, recently warned his supporters that fundraising will fall short of expectations -- but has no option but to trudge the money trail.
"Our campaign is fast approaching a critical deadline," McCain recently wrote to supporters in a plea for funds
"Unfortunately, we cannot change the fact that this is how the press, political pundits and others will look at the financial and political momentum behind our campaign."
AFP
