McCain In the Money Too

According to the Politico, it looks like McCain cannot thank Hillary enough for her help in leveling the playing field on the money front.

For the first time in the campaign, Republican John McCain in May raised about the same amount of money, $22 million, as Democrat Barack Obama.

McCain also closed the gap in the amount of cash in the bank the two parties' presumptive presidential nominees have at their respective disposals as they enter the first phase of the general election.

McCain reported having about $32 million in cash for primary related expenses at the end of May.
Obama reported having $43 million in hand at the start of June-but about $10 million of that is dedicated to the general election.

Obama's fundraising in May marked a sharp fall-off after months of record-breaking donations. Even in difficult times, such as when he suffered a key loss in Pennsylvania in April, Obama brought in a steady flow of cash that usually topped $30 million a month.

In other years the RNC is having a banner year:

As The Times' campaign finance guru Dan Morain points out, the sums are significant as presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain squares off against the far more richly-funded Sen. Barack Obama for the last 136 days of the general election campaign.

Based on the numbers so far, the Republican Party appears poised to act as the financial equalizer in the fall campaign. The RNC disclosed that it ended May with $53.5 million in the bank, compared to $3.9 million for the Democratic National Committee, which is headed by Howard Dean.

Another reason why Obama turned down public financing? Turns out he's not building the unassailable war chest everyone thought he was. This is pure speculation on my part, but my guess is that the business community is tilting heavily toward McCain due to rising gas prices and Obama's ambivalence on NAFTA.

But things are not all rosy with the McCain campaign, and I don't want to leave that impression. The Barack bounce is real, he is leading the polls and McCain has a long, long way to go. It isn't over, but McCain should be thankful the election isn't tomorrow.