Funding flows in after Palin pick

John McCain raised more than $8.8 million in the two days after he announced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would join him as his running mate on the Republican ticket – his biggest two-day haul of the long-running presidential campaign.

The Republican National Committee collected $4.5 million the day McCain selected Palin, newly filed Federal Election Commission reports show.

McCain’s decision to tap the then-little-known politician excited the Republican rank-and-file, helping him raise about $2.1 million in increments of less than $1,000 in two days.

Altogether, McCain raised $6.8 million on Aug. 30, the day after the Palin announcement, and $2 million the next day. Until then, McCain had never topped $2 million in a single day in this presidential campaign, the Federal Election Commission data show.

McCain raised $47.5 million in August, his most successful month. He also spent $40.5 million, including $18.1 million for advertising and $5.4 million for mailings.

Obama’s campaign aides have said the Democrat raised $66 million in August, another record for the candidate who has continued to break his own fund- raising records.

Obama has raised more than $450 million since the campaign began, double McCain’s sum. But the Arizona Republican is using the Republican Party as an equalizer.

The Republican National Committee ended August with $76.5 million in the bank, compared with the Democratic National Committee’s $17.7 million.