Feb 20, 2008 5:30 am US/Eastern
McCain Raises Nearly $12M In January
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
Republican Sen. John McCain raised nearly $12 million in January, propelled by victories in New Hampshire and South Carolina that solidified his place as the leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination.
According to filings with the Federal Election Commission late Tuesday, McCain had $5.2 million cash on hand at the start of February and $5.5 million in debts, including a loan of nearly $4 million.
The month marked a turnaround for the Arizona senator, whose presidential campaign had once been considered all but dead. His fundraising also sealed his decision not to accept public financing during the primary.
McCain was the first of the major party candidates to submit a January financial report to the FEC. The deadline for filing is Wednesday.
Buttressed by a loan and a strategy that focused all of his efforts on New Hampshire, McCain spent $10.4 million in January in fending off a better financed Mitt Romney and establishing himself as the front-runner in the Republican contest.
McCain won the Wisconsin and Washington state primaries Tuesday, continuing a remarkable comeback that has made him the symbol of political resurrection. He is within reach of the delegates needed to secure the nomination.
January proved to be a crucial month for McCain. He won needed contests in New Hampshire and South Carolina and then established himself as the front-runner with a victory in Florida. His only remaining rival is former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, whom McCain dispatched with ease Tuesday.
McCain's January finances represented the best single month of fundraising yet. But his report also showed that he entered the month with trepidation, borrowing $950,000 in the first week of January in addition to the $2.9 million he had borrowed in December. The loan improved McCain's cash on hand, allowing him to buy ad time in New Hampshire to fend off an aggressive run by Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.
McCain had applied for public financing for the primary but backed out this month. Though he did not secure his loan with the public money, loan records show that the bank, Fidelity Trust & Bank, had insisted that if McCain lost early primaries he would have been required to participate in the federally financed system. McCain had been entitled to at least $5.8 million in public funds.
By accepting the money, however, McCain would have been required to limit his spending for the primary to about $54 million -- an amount the campaign is close to surpassing now.
McCain reported raising $11.65 million in January, bringing his overall fundraising from individual donors to more than $49 million since the beginning of 2007. That amount, while sizable, pales in comparison with the more than $130 million that Democrat Barack Obama is expected to report raising through January since the start of his campaign.
McCain, a leading advocate of limits on campaign finances, is turning down government matching funds for the primary to free him to spend more money as he prepares for a general election contest. But he has also said he would accept public financing for the general election if his Democratic opponent choses to do the same.
Obama, who last year promised to also accept public money in the general election if his GOP opponent did so, has since hedged on that vow.
Each major party candidate could get about $85 million in public funds for the general election, but they would not be allowed to raise any other money. Such a step would clearly give the advantage to McCain, who dislikes fundraising, and would seriously hinder Obama and his widespread fundraising apparatus. Obama's campaign has said it raised a whopping $32 million in January.
Both candidates would have to rely on outside groups and on the national parties to supplement their spending if they accepted public financing. The Republican National Committee has been the only national GOP organization to outraise its Democratic counterpart. But political finance experts say Obama, if he's the nominee, could significantly buttress the Democratic National Committee's fundraising.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
