WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain was showered with $10 million in individual contributions last month, giving his upstart candidacy virtual parity with financial Goliath George W. Bush in campaigning for today's big sweep of primaries, his aides said.
This stunning windfall, about 40% of which came over the Internet, drew an additional $5 million in federal matching funds to the campaign, putting the candidate in good financial form for the next round of multiple primaries a week from today, according to Dan McLagan, a spokesman for McCain.
As a result, the Arizona senator has been doing what was unthinkable a month ago, broadcasting almost as many television commercials as Texas Gov. Bush in preparation for today's showdown, according to Bush media tracker Matthew Dowd.
"If McCain loses, it's not going to be because he didn't have the money to compete," said Larry Makinson, director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based campaign finance study group. "It is truly remarkable. I don't think we've ever seen a mushrooming of money the way we have with the McCain campaign."
Meanwhile, the Bush campaign is gearing up to replenish its coffers with about a dozen fund-raising events over the next several weeks, which campaign officials hope will help them raise as much as $10 million this spring, according to Don Evans, Bush's finance chairman.
In the most recent finance reports filed Jan. 31, Bush had already spent $50 million of his record $70-million war chest. Since then, his contributions have been trickling in while money has been gushing out to pay for television advertisements. The campaign refused to reveal exactly how much it has on hand, but observers estimate that it is probably not more than $10 million.
"The Bush folks have raised and spent $70 million, and it did not buy them the coronation they thought it would," McLagan said. "We're finally competitive in our ability to get our message out in the big states."
McCain strategist Mike Murphy suggested Monday that the campaign will have enough money to compete with Bush at least through June, if necessary. "We have millions and millions of dollars left," he said.
A third Republican candidate, former diplomat Alan Keyes, raised more than $6 million, according to his Jan. 31 report, and had about $500,000 left in cash.
