WASHINGTON - He backs an unpopular war in Iraq, represents an unpopular political party and is endorsed by an unpopular president in the midst of an economic downturn.
As if that's not enough, Republican John McCain could be heavily outspent by his Democratic rival in the U.S. election in November to succeed President George W. Bush.
For every $1 the Arizona senator has raised, Democrat Barack Obama has raised $3. Hillary Clinton, unlikely at this point to beat Obama for the Democratic nomination, has raised two and a half times as much as McCain.
McCain is likely to have enough to compete with either Obama or Clinton, his campaign and Republican strategists say. But several acknowledged that the yawning money gap is another sign of the uphill battle any Republican would face this year.
"I can't emphasize enough how terrible the political environment is for Republicans," said one Republican strategist who requested anonymity to speak candidly. "It is dreadful."
McCain raised $77 million through the end of March, campaign finance records show. Obama raised $235 million by that point, while Clinton raised $189 million.
The money game here is just incredible. While McCain has raised $77 million through the end of March, the combined Barack Obama / Hillary Clinton total raised is around $424 million--which is five times more than what McCain has raised. Granted, Obama and Clinton are still fighting over the Democratic nomination, but the huge imbalance between the GOP's McCain and the Democrat's Obama and Clinton is just astounding. It is no wonder that McCain is demanding the potential Democratic leader, Barack Obama, to go into the $84 million public financing (Just as McCain preparing to do in September), even though Obama could raise another $200 million before November. In other words, McCain wants to reduce Obama's money advantage down to McCain's level in the general election.
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