McCain brings in the dough

John McCain can do some fund-raising after all.  Despite some intermittent weirdness in August (number of homes, cone of silence, surprise VP pick), the month shaped up to be a pretty good for the Republican in the fund-raising department.  The best ever.  Almost $50 million.

Not a bad haul for someone who has continually lagged behind Barack Obama in raising money.  The unofficial number (estimated at $47 million) is just under what the Democratic nominee averages - at least over the past two months.

What's more significant is that the campaign says $10 million of the haul came after Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was selected to be McCain's running mate.

Remember, she was announced on August 29 which amounts to over $3 million per day which would lead you to think that Palin has fired up the base.

The record haul eclipses his prior best by nearly double ($26 million in July).

No August amounts are known yet for the Democratic nominee, but AP reports that the Obama campaign believes fund-raising 'surged' following Obama's speech on Thursday night.