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McCain lags in campaign fundraising

Jeremy Hobson Apr 4, 2008

TEXT OF STORY

Doug Krizner: Senator John McCain will be in Memphis today for a fundraiser. The Republican presidential candidate has been holding these events all around the country. He has to — he’s way behind his opponents in the money race, as Jeremy Hobson reports.


Jeremy Hobson: The Obama campaign reports it raised more than $40 million in March. Hillary Clinton says she raised about half that. But that’s still likely to beat John McCain, who has brought in just one-sixth of Clinton and Obama’s combined total since the beginning of the campaign.

Anthony Corrado at Colby College says part of the reason for the shortfall is McCain’s weak support in the financial sector, which so far has been the biggest source of campaign donations.

Anthony Corrado: He has had clashes with the business community. That has meant that he hasn’t done as well raising money from the traditional Republican business and corporate interests.

But Corrado says McCain does have one major advantage: At last count, The Republican National Committee had at least five times more cash-on-hand than the Democratic National Committee.

Corrado: The RNC now has a nominee that they can rally their fundraising efforts behind, while the Democrats are going to be delayed until the outcome of their race is clear.

In Washington, I’m Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.

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