According to the Politico, it looks like McCain cannot thank Hillary enough for her help in leveling the playing field on the money front.

For the first time in the campaign, Republican John McCain in May raised about the same amount of money, $22 million, as Democrat Barack Obama.

McCain also closed the gap in the amount of cash in the bank the two parties' presumptive presidential nominees have at their respective disposals as they enter the first phase of the general election.

McCain reported having about $32 million in cash for primary related expenses at the end of May.
Obama reported having $43 million in hand at the start of June-but about $10 million of that is dedicated to the general election.

Obama's fundraising in May marked a sharp fall-off after months of record-breaking donations. Even in difficult times, such as when he suffered a key loss in Pennsylvania in April, Obama brought in a steady flow of cash that usually topped $30 million a month.

In other years the RNC is having a banner year:

As The Times' campaign finance guru Dan Morain points out, the sums are significant as presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain squares off against the far more richly-funded Sen. Barack Obama for the last 136 days of the general election campaign.

Based on the numbers so far, the Republican Party appears poised to act as the financial equalizer in the fall campaign. The RNC disclosed that it ended May with $53.5 million in the bank, compared to $3.9 million for the Democratic National Committee, which is headed by Howard Dean.

Another reason why Obama turned down public financing? Turns out he's not building the unassailable war chest everyone thought he was. This is pure speculation on my part, but my guess is that the business community is tilting heavily toward McCain due to rising gas prices and Obama's ambivalence on NAFTA.

But things are not all rosy with the McCain campaign, and I don't want to leave that impression. The Barack bounce is real, he is leading the polls and McCain has a long, long way to go. It isn't over, but McCain should be thankful the election isn't tomorrow.

Ahh, America, the land of the litigious.

The Democratic National Committee is once again trying to sue to force the FEC to investigate whether John McCain violated fundraising regulations after he borrowed $4 million last year and promised to repay the bank by seeking public matching funds if he needed them. He was approved to receive $5.8 million in public money, but turned it down after his New Hampshire and consecutive primary wins. Dems say the funds were used as collateral for the bank loan.

"He used the matching funds to get the money when he needed it,'' said DNC General Counsel Joseph Sandler, reports Bloomberg. "That's the reality of what happened here.''

A federal judge dismissed a similar suit that the Democrats filed in April, saying it was premature. The latest version of the suit should be refiled next week.

The DNC sent an e-mail to supporters saying McCain is "blatantly" breaking campaign finance law, and asks supporters to sign a petition. The e-mail says:

You can put pressure on John McCain to honor his agreement with the FEC by signing your support -- we need 100,000 Americans to stand up and demand that he keep the promise that he made the American people. If we're ever going to have truly clean campaigns, it's going to take all of us fighting for them.

Was there really a time when Rudy Giuliani was the GOP front runner? Surely that occurred in some alternate reality, right? These days Rudy is unemployed, aimless and deep in debt. To help get rid of some of that red ink, not to mention get back in the public eye, he has come up with an unorthodox idea. Rudy's offering to appear at fund raisers for Republican candidates... as long as some of the cash drummed up ends up in his coffers. That's right, he wants a percentage of the money he helps raise.

The unusual request underscores the financial predicament Mr. Giuliani finds himself in, after he ended his presidential bid this year with roughly $3.6 million in campaign debt. Traditionally, prominent party figures help lower-tier candidates by headlining fund-raising events in return for good will and future political alliances, but do not receive funds themselves.

Mr. Giuliani's debt includes a $500,000 personal loan that he made to the campaign, according to his latest campaign finance report.

Giuliani's plan is not sitting well with some GOP officials, who accuse him, anonymously, of selfishly trying to take money desperately needed by local candidates:

"In a year when our candidates are struggling to raise money, this is just another burden," said a leading Republican Party strategist, who was briefed about the mayor's request. "This is not about helping the party. This is about helping Rudy Giuliani."

Neither the GOP nor Giuliani's campaign is saying how many candidates have taken Rudy up on his cash grab. I'm betting that's because none have.

The Daily News has a rundown of some of the things the $212 million Hillary Clinton spent on her presidential bid could have bought instead. According to Celeste Katz, the Clinton campaign could have paid for the following: sending more than 76,000 New York families to Disneyland, 9,838 Toyota Priuses, 70.7 million energy-efficient light bulbs, and several other amusing and ironic purchases. The $11 million Clinton gave her campaign could buy everyone in New York City a lottery ticket. The total campaign cost could have bought everyone in the city a movie ticket. Well, that last one says more about the cost of movies than it does about the cost of campaigns.

Although Hillary Clinton's campaign spent a fortune (as did Obama, but his campaign looks good because he got the nomination), she simply played the campaign finance game as it is played in this era. In order to compete on a battlefield of this magnitude, spending an absolute fortune is simply the ante. Kicking the candidate who lost while she's down may be fun and easy, but it's the system that needs kicking, not Senator Clinton. Plenty of others spent quite a bit more than the staggering $109,823 per delegate she spent. For example, her tally is nothing compared to the $48.8 million Rudy Giuliani spent on a single delegate during his failed bid for the Republican nomination. Mitt Romney put out quite a bit of economic stimulus as well, spending $98 million for just 282 delegates, nearly $350,000 per delegate. Romney's stings a little more because $42.3 million of it was his own money.

Before the 2008 Presidential campaign, the gold standard for farcical overspending was set by the 1996 bid for the Republican presidential nomination by John McCain's current economic adviser, and former Texas senator, Phil Gramm. Gramm's campaign spent $25 million for just 10 delegates. Republican campaign insiders coined the term for the money a candidate spends per delegate won the Gramm-o-meter. That kind of wasteful spending seems quaint in retrospect.

And I'm sure she could use help from Obama to pay down some serious campaign debt:

The clock is ticking fast on her personal loan, made to her campaign after Super Tuesday, due to federal laws meant to keep politicians from lining their own pockets with contributions from contributors.

The last day Clinton can solicit contributions to repay the personal debt is Aug. 28 - the day Obama is set to be nominated at the Democratic convention. After that, Clinton can't be reimbursed by more than $250,000 - a tiny fraction of her outstanding loan.

Some reports have speculated that the personal loan may be much higher than the $11 million reported.

The other issue is Clinton's overall campaign debt, which has swelled to as high as $30 million, according to some reports.

And that's where Obama could come in and save her by telling his donors to direct their contribution to her payoff. I see that as unlikely. That article did not do a good job of explaining what happens after August, but this NPR article does:

The 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, however, pushes her the other way - setting no deadline for paying creditors but giving her only until the August convention to repay herself. After that, all but $250,000 of her $11.4 million in loans would automatically be converted into unrecoverable campaign contributions. The Millionaires Amendment in McCain-Feingold sets that deadline to prevent self-financing candidates from collecting and pocketing contributions years after their campaigns have folded.

Ah-ha, since a lot of this is actually Bill's money, this might explain a lot; her staying in, his blowing his top last week. They're probably going to end up personally in the hole for this venture. As it should be, since the Clintons are top earners and are likely to remain so. Assuming they stay married, as a divorce would open one big can of worms.

The UK Telegraph reports that Hillary Clinton's campaign is in talks with the well-funded Obama camp to try to recoup some of Clinton's massive campaign debt.

In a conference call with major donors this afternoon, contributors were told by Harold Ickes, a senior Clinton adviser, that she was unlikely to pull out of the race until the issue of her massive debts was resolved. The New York senator has lent her own campaign at least $11.5 million.

One source close to a major donor said: "It's not about the vice-presidency or any other position she might get. It's about the money – in particular the Clinton family money." The Obama campaign might have to reach deeply into its well-stocked coffers in order to secure the full support of Mrs Clinton and her husband Bill in the November general election.

Realistically speaking, it's hard to fault her for this. The practice is quite common, and with so much of her own money tied up in her campaign, the incentive is that much greater.

On the other hand, when I see the raw emotion of her fervent supporters as she tells them they'll fight to the finish, it seems a little cynical to think that she'd be feeding into that just to get out of a financial pickle.

As Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continue their battle for the Democratic nomination, John McCain has been raking in campaign contributions. He's still not raising anywhere near the amount of money as the two Democratic contenders, but he has the advantage of having the Republican National Committee machine behind him.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Arizona senator has been headlining of high-dollar GOP fundraisers from the San Joaquin Valley in California to Wall Street. As a reward for raising $250,000, former Univison Chairman A. Jerrold Perenchio, MGM Chairman Harry Sloan and eight will reportedly "receive a Private Greet with Senator McCain, a Private Reception with Photo Opportunity and Premier Seating at Dinner," reads the invitation to a Los Angeles event this week at the home of RNC finance committee chairman and venture capitalist Elliott Broidy. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nancy Reagan are expected to make appearances. That Times says the fundraiser is expected to take in more than $5 million for McCain and the Republican Party.

McCain's fundraisers are bringing in money for his campaign, as well as the state and national GOP operations. Because McCain is the presumed Republican nominee for the White House general election, he has access to RNC funds. He needs those funds to compete, especially if the money machine that is Obama is the Democratic nominee. McCain, for example, raised $18 million in April, as compared to Obama's $31 million. Whereas Obama romps the competition with money raised from small donors, McCain raises more - as a percentage of total money raised - than the Illinois senator from donors giving $2,300 or more

Although McCain himself can only raise $2,300 per donor because of campaign finance rules, the RNC can raise $28,500 per donor. Donors can give up to $10,000 to the California party's federal political action committee, plus another $2,300. The Times notes that by the end of April, McCain and the RNC had $62 million in the bank - $10 million more than Obama and the Democratic National Committee.

One of our devoted readers, Mr. Sandy Clark, sent me a very good question this morning:

When Hillary does end her candidacy, does she get back the $22 million she has set aside for the General Election to offset her debt?

Clinton's campaign is now an estimated $20 million dollars in the hole. Some commentators speculated that she might be staying in the race so that she could raise money to help re-pay it. Given that she has not managed to bring her debt down following Indiana and North Carolina, it seems fair to say that this theory has been something of a stretch.

So, back to Mr. Clark's point. Clinton has received a lot of criticism for allocating much of the early money she raised for the general election.

That's the Clinton campaign blowing out earlier estimates of $20 million, according to papers released in the wake of her Kentucky victory, presumably hoping the news would be lost in the uproar. Nope. My eagle eyes saw it this morning. I thought David Knowles would already have had a story filed, and that he did, but that was two weeks and $11 million dollars ago.

From the LA Times:

She added another $9.5 million in unpaid bills to vendors this past month alone, pushing her total debt to vendors and herself to the new astronomical figure, about a 50% debt increase in one month.

According to a campaign release put out Tuesday evening as election returns revealed her big win in Kentucky and loss in Oregon, Clinton raised "approximately $22 million" from other people in April. The release also touted that $10 million had poured in within 48 hours of another lopsided Clinton victory over Obama, that one in Pennsylvania, and said it was the second best fundraising month of her entire campaign.

But the number collected is actually closer to $21 million and the release also neglected to mention that she spent $28.9 million, nearly $8 million more than she took in. She used personal loans to make up part of the difference. She also delayed payments to consultants. Including the $9.5 million in unpaid bills from April, she owes consultants and other venders $19.5 million.

Over the weekend, Hillary Clinton's campaign confirmed that it is now $20 million dollars in debt. Some have speculated that any deal that lays the groundwork for her exit from the Democratic race will have Barack Obama picking up Clinton's trail of unpaid bills. While many Clinton supporters scoff at this notion, and cheer their candidate to soldier on until the convention in August, there may be a more compelling reason to settle up before then. Actually, make that 11 million reasons. From US News and World Report:

Experts disagree on whether or not Clinton will actually stick in the fight until the Democratic National Convention in August. But the date looms large for another reason--at least, if she hopes to recoup any of the million s she has sunk into the campaign. Thanks to a little-known provision in 2002's McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform bill, a campaign must repay the loan to a candidate before Election Day. In this case, that's the nominating convention. After the election has passed, a bankrupt campaign is limited to gathering just $250,000 from contributors, which means that modes sum is all it can give back to a candidate. In short, Clinton stands to lose $11,150,000. "If she wants to be repaid, she'd have to move on that between now and the national convention," says former Federal Election Commission chairman Michael Toner."

Each time the Clintons have dipped into their personal fortune to help fund the campaign, they've termed the infusion a "loan," which, one assumes, is meant to be re-paid. The irony that John McCain's legislation (so reviled by conservatives) might be the final nudge that pushes Clinton from the race is all a bit Twilight Zone. But the rub here is that if Clinton exits the race now, her fundraising opportunities go away while, baring an Obama bailout, the debt remains. That means she may opt to stay in, try to spend a tiny amount in the remaining contests, raise cash, and then quit at the last possible moment, right before the convention so as to avoid the campaign finance restrictions.

No word yet on how much of the $42.3 million Mitt Romney lent his own campaign that Mitt has bee able to recoup.