Monday, July 02, 2007

McCain May Accept Public Matching Funds

Sen. John McCain's announcement that he only raised $11.2 million dollars this quarter was disappointing enough for McCainiacs.

But the news that McCain has just $2 million dollars on hand has changed the nature of his campaign strategy.

Here's more from the conference call today with Campaign Manager Terry Nelson and Strategist John Weaver:

"At one point, we believed that we would raise over $100 million during this calendar year, and we constructed a campaign that was based on that assumption. We believe today that that assumption is not correct," said Nelson.

"I'd like to say that the campaign is seriously considering accepting public-matching funds," said Weaver.

"In the coming weeks, you'll hear John leading the charge to change the status quo in Washington, where nothing but the protection of special interests gets done. He's going to challenge our party and our country to let him end the out-of-control spending, which has shamed the Republican Party and wrecked our country's budget," said Weaver.

"We will win this nomination by being the most aggressive campaign in the early caucus and primary states by presenting the best candidate, the best message, and the best messenger," said Weaver.

Other tidbits from the presser:
*McCain will participate in the Ames debate, even though he's not playing in the straw poll.
*Campaign Manager Terry Nelson has agreed to work for free for the next few months.
*McCain will now spend more time in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. More than he's been over the last few months. Team McCain believes these three states will still determine the trajectory of the nomination.
*They believe they would qualify for about $6 million in public matching funds.

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