John McCain Watch: McCain Won’t Meet Fundraising Goals

Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, center, talks with Linda and James Clark of Monroe, N.H. after speaking at a town hall style meeting Saturday, March 24, 2007 in Littleton, N.H. Linda said that she is solidly behind McCain, while James is leaning toward supporting McCain but is still researching the field.

McCain: We Won’t Meet Fundraising Goals

Sen. John McCain said his presidential campaign would not meet its fundraising goals this quarter, and his campaign advisers acknowledged that ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney may wind up raising more.

“We’re going to pay a price for it because we got a late start,” McCain told reporters in New Hampshire. “We’re not going to meet the goals we had.” He later said he did not know whether Romney would outpace him, but his advisers did not downplay that possibility. They also did not rule out finishing first.

McCain contends that his exploratory committee’s opening in December and the rush of the busy holiday season did not allow his campaign to begin fundraising in earnest until January. But once that month began, owing in part to a busy Senate schedule, McCain attended only two fundraisers and only two in February. There are twenty scheduled for all of this month, and another twenty in April.

“These are moments, none of which at the end of the day impact winning the nomination,” said John Weaver, McCain’s chief strategist. “We’re on track to do that. Every campaign would trade places with us. We wouldn’t trade places with anyone else.”

The six month fundraising figure out in mid-July is a more accurate figure. But, why is McCain lowering expectations?

Flap expects good fundraising totals by all of the top three candidates.

But, McCain has been fading in the polls and Romney has had a campaign that never really has caught fire.

And Giuliani is keeping pace with good solid fundraising and excellent poll numbers.

What can this all mean?

Flap will tell you around the last week of July.

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