WASHINGTON, July 3 (UPI) -- Funds in the presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., are down to $2 million and 50 campaign workers have been laid off outside Washington.
McCain was in Iraq Monday as aides announced the campaign that employs about 150 people had raised $11.2 million in the past three months, which fell short of the $13 million in the previous quarter, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
"The decisions we made today were not easy," said Terry Nelson, the McCain campaign manager, who said he would no longer accept a salary.
Charlie Black, a senior Washington political strategist who is a volunteer adviser to McCain told the Times, "Clearly, we didn't meet our goals for the second quarter in fundraising, which I largely attribute to the immigration legislation that has dominated the news for the past two months, and his position is not too popular with our small donors."
Senior advisers said the problems might force McCain to accept federal matching money, which could pump $6 million into his primary campaign but force him to abide by strict spending limits.
