McCain has his best fundraising month
His campaign says he raised $21.5 million in May. The announcement comes a day after opponent Obama says he would forgo public financing in his presidential bid.
A day after his Democratic opponent said he would forgo public financing for his presidential drive, Sen. John McCain's campaign announced its best fundraising month.
McCain disclosed that he raised $21.5 million in May, spending $11.6 million and ending the month with $1.27 million in unpaid bills. McCain's receipts included $1.5 million from other politicians and political action committees, and $4.26 million raised in concert with the Republican Party.
McCain ended the month with $31.5 million in the bank, an increase of $10 million from the previous month.
Even though the presumptive Republican nominee had his biggest month, his fundraising is expected to fall short of the amount brought in by his likely Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama. The Obama campaign was expected to file his latest campaign finance report later today.
Obama raised an average of $40 million a month in February, March and April.
It is that strength as a fund-raiser that Obama is hoping will offset the decision to give up public financing for the general campaign. The move has been criticized by the McCain campaign and by some good-government groups.
This morning, Obama announced that he and former rival, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, will campaign together next week in appearances designed to heal any lingering wounds from the bruising primary battle for the Democratic nomination.
No further details were given in the brief e-mail sent to reporters.
McCain is scheduled to give a speech in Canada, where he will discuss trade issues. He has strongly supported free trade while Obama has raised questions about the North American Free Trade Agreement.
michael.muskal@latimes.com
dan.morain@latimes.com
