McCain Is Spending Fast to Spend Down

By Emily Cadei, CQ Staff Mon Jul 21, 2:38 PM ET

Republican presidential candidate John McCain outspent his Democratic rival Barack Obama in June, signaling an effort by the McCain campaign to spend down his campaign account before the Arizona senator accepts spending limits imposed by the public financing system.

McCain, the soon-to-be Republican nominee, spent $27 million last month, more than double his May expenditures. Obama spent $25.7 million, a drop of $1 million from his campaign's May spending. Obama's June expenditures were far below what he averaged during the height of his primary battle with New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

McCain's biggest expense by far this election cycle has been television advertising. His campaign has spent $32 million on media expenses so far, including $16 million in June. McCain Campaign manager Rick Davis claims McCain has outspent Obama three-to-one on television ads since April.

Because he decided to take public funding in the general election, McCain can spend his campaign money only until he officially becomes the Republican nominee at the GOP convention in early September. After that, his spending will be limited to the $84.1 million in grant money given to him by the federal government.

But the public finance spending limitations won't necessarily pose a hardship for the senator going up against Obama, who has chosen not to participate in public funding. McCain also has the entire Republican Party fundraising apparatus behind him, which ensures he will be financially competitive even though Obama is expected to raise huge amounts of cash for the general election.

By the end of June, for example, McCain's joint fundraising efforts with the Republican National Committee, helped boost the party committee's cash on hand to $68.7 million. Combined, McCain's campaign committee, his general election compliance fund -- which can be used for legal and accounting expenses -- and the RNC now have about $131 million in the bank to spend on the presidential campaign.

Democrats, in contrast, have struggled to raise money for their national party. The Democratic National Committee raised $22.4 million in June and ended the month with $20.3 million in cash. When combined with Obama's recent fundraising efforts, the Democrats have about $92 million cash on hand.

Obama announced in June that he would not to take public funds to support his general election campaign, which means he can continue to spend as much as he raises through the November election. But he may have to be more judicious about how he uses the money in the lead up to the general election campaign this fall. Last month, for example, instead of spending huge amounts on advertising, he began expanding his field operations and staff in a number of key states, including Virginia and Georgia, which had not been considered competitive in the past.

Clinton, meanwhile, is still trying to recover from her primary shoot-out with Obama. Both spent huge amounts of cash, but Clinton had to borrow more than $12 million from her own personal accounts to make ends meet and is now struggling to pay off a $25 million campaign debt. According to Federal Election Commission reports, she raised only $4.7 million in June, and spent $5.4 million.

The one-time Democratic front runner still finished the month with $26 million in the bank, but about $23 million of that was raised for use in the general election and cannot be used for primary expenses, including paying off her primary campaign debt.