Already stumbling badly in opinion polls, Sen. John McCain had been desperately attempting to lower expectations regarding his first-quarter fundraising efforts.
Unfortunately for him, he didn’t lower them enough.
Despite being labeled “McCain, Inc.” as the longtime establishment frontrunner for the GOP nomination, McCain finished an anemic third among his fellow Republican candidates in the first-quarter fundraising reports.
McCain’s campaign announced this week that he raised $12.5 million during the first quarter, losing further ground to Romney and Giuliani who reported $23 million and $15 million respectively.
According to Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Viriginia’s Center for Politics…
“Everyone agrees the big loser is John McCain.”
The first quarter fundraising reports provided a highly-anticipated glimpse into the candidates’ strength and vitality. And given the early start to the 2008 campaign, they are even more critical than usual. It is crucial that the candidates quickly solidify their image of strength and momentum.
And the latest reports reveal McCain’s stock to be sinking toward junk status.
Even McCain’s Campaign Manager, Terry Nelson, acknowledged deep disappointment in the first quarter results…
“Although we are pleased with the organization we’ve built and polls show us strongly positioned in key primary states, we had hoped to do better in first-quarter fundraising.”
And according to Arizona State University pollster and political scientist Bruce Merrill, Sen. McCain is falling into dangerous territory:
“The disappointment in the fundraising is dangerous for him because of his going down in the polls and just the whole tone of his campaign. It makes his candidacy a little more shaky.”
McCain’s lackluster showing follows a disappointing end to 2006, when Giuliani raised $1.3 million compared to McCain’s $565,000.
At this rate, Sen. McCain may have to accept public financing after all — but out of desperation, not out of principle.
April 3, 2007 at 3:23 pm
[...] this – Rudy Giulliani leads Republicans in the polls but did relatively poor as far as fundraising. Does that make him a less serious candidate? No. But according to the media [...]
April 3, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Certainly not good for McCain. His excuses are lame too. As the frontrunner and with his campaign organization, there is no excuse for this poor showing.
May 11, 2008 at 5:09 pm
[...] And it’s a bittersweet comfort that one of the chief opponents of the DC voting rights bill, Mitch McConnell, is widely disliked and unsupported in his home state, and may go down to defeat in the next election. Oh, and John McCain, who apparently switched his support to opposition at the last second, thus reminding the free world why his campaign–and he himself–is currently “the biggest loser.” [...]