McCain Gains Big Online Bucks, Goes For More

An online fund-raising campaign has reportedly paid big bucks for U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) in his run for the Republican nomination in the upcoming presidential race, and his organizers are preparing for more via a live streaming fund-raiser on February 10th.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal today, $150,000 (US$) in post-victory online contributions poured in within 24 hours of McCain’s primary victory in New Hampshire on Tuesday. The torrent continued through Wednesday, reaching a total of more than $500,000, the newspaper said.

On to South Carolina

The Internet is seen by McCain organizers as critical to his campaign, which has netted more than $18,000 an hour online, the report said, adding the funds could prove crucial to McCain’s bid to catch GOP opponent George W. Bush in South Carolina, where voters head to the primary polls on February 19th. McCain’s campaign coffers reportedly contained a mere $1.5 million at the end of December.

The Journal reported that most of the post-New Hampshire contributions, which average $110 each, are in the form of online credit-card transactions, making the money spendable almost immediately.

Significant Tool

McCain, who has embraced the Internet as a significant tool to fund-raise and bring his message to the voters, hopes to keep the cash-flow coming. On February 10th, his campaigners will present what they call an unprecedented live and interactive online fund-raiser, it was announced today.

Campaign organizers have arranged with streaming media broadcaster INTERVU, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITVU) and BroadcastZone, to provide the technology and expertise to conduct the online fund-raiser and to seamlessly integrate Internet-based activities into the overall campaign communication strategy, organizers said.

Campaign supporters who visit the event and donate $100 will be invited to interact with McCain in a live, one-hour Webcast to discuss his views and stance on key campaign issues. Supporters will also be able to participate in a question and answer session where McCain will address topics submitted by individual participants.

The interactive event will be found at Straight Talk Express.