McCain Starts Fundraising

Posted on 1/24/2008 2:08:00 PM

The Republican presidential hopeful John McCain is trying to raise funds in a flurry, before going onto the Florida primary scheduled for January 29, 2008. He will require the money in order to compete against fellow republican Mitt Romney. Romney, a successful businessman, has the capacity to run a campaign worth tens of millions of dollars. Aides of the senior senator from Arizona say the fund raising exercise is essential, as they believe Romney would put his personal fortune behind his campaign.

Senator McCain has planned major fund raising events during the span of the week before the primary to be held on Tuesday. After a fund raiser in New York, McCain will have fund raisers in Miami, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Tampa, and Jacksonville. On Monday night, he will have a fund raiser on Capitol Hill.

The Florida primary is predicted to be a very crucial one. Winning this test, it is expected, will translate into a major advantage for any candidate in the Super Tuesday primaries, scheduled to be held on February 5, 2008. Twenty-one states are set to hold the GOP elections on this day.

McCain's aides are of the opinion that they would not be able to compete with Romney’s financial capacity, following the Florida primary. However, they concede that Senator McCain is the better known political figure among Republican voters. Consequently, the McCain campaign, they reason, does not need to spend that much money on advertising.

Preoccupation with fund raising, however, means that McCain may be devoting less time to the other priorities. “By packing his schedule with fund raising events, John McCain has risked devoting less time to stumping for votes at a critical moment … Rudy Giuliani, by contrast, has made campaigning his top priority and relegated fundraising to an afterthought, ” reported The Hill, a Washington based newspaper.