McCain's war chest is far from full

Renowned for his dislike of fundraising galas, McCain has yet to tap some of the Republican Party's deepest pockets. The Arizona senator is also struggling to lure low-dollar donors who use the Internet to fill Democratic coffers. Obama has raised more in small donations than McCain has raised in his entire campaign.

McCain is ahead or tied with the Democratic rivals in most polls, and some experts say he almost certainly will have sufficient money to run competitively in the fall.

But not all Republicans are so sure. McCain's uneasy relationship with fundraising and his inability so far to match the Democrats' prowess worries many backers.

McCain's money situation came into sharp focus Sunday when he filed a campaign finance report that showed he had raised only $15.4 million in March, the first full month after he became the presumptive GOP nominee.

By comparison, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts raised almost three times that much in the month after he locked up the Democratic nomination four years ago. McCain ended March with a modest $11.6 million in the bank, despite having few expenses.

Obama, who raised $41.3 million in March, had $51 million left over -- even as the Illinois senator spent $30 million in his fight for the nomination, his report filed Sunday showed. Clinton raised $20 million in March and had $8 million in the bank at the end of the month, her campaign said.

McCain has other cards he can play. One is the Republican National Committee, which is raising more than its Democratic counterpart partly because President Bush, though riding low in the polls, remains a draw. He regularly signs fundraising mailers and headlines galas -- 13 in 2007 and seven this year.

The Democratic National Committee, which traditionally raises less than the RNC, competes for money in this campaign with Obama and Clinton.

The DNC had $5.3 million in the bank at the end of March, compared with $31.2 million for the RNC, which can use that money in a variety of ways to boost McCain's candidacy. The Arizona senator's confidantes have taken senior posts in the RNC to ensure that the money is used to his advantage.