$11M MCC HAS 'POOR' SHOWING

By CARL CAMPANILE

March 22, 2008 -- John McCain raised $11 million for his presidential campaign last month - far less than Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama collected a record $55 million and Clinton $35 million in February.

The figures are particularly disappointing given that McCain had all but secured the Republican nomination after the Super Tuesday primaries on Feb. 5 and party rivals Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani dropped out.

To put the disparity in perspective, Obama raised nearly as much last month as McCain has raised in more than a year, $60.2 million.

Obama has raised more than three times the funds than McCain overall, mostly from small donors via the Internet.

The Democratic National Committee was quick to crow: "Comparison to Democrats should be anxiety-provoking for McCain."

McCain had roughly $4 million in cash on hand after paying off a campaign loan, while Obama had $38 million and Clinton $24 million.

But the Arizona Republican has filed papers with the Federal Elections Commission giving him the option to accept $84 million in taxpayer money for the general election. That would eliminate the burden of raising private funds.

McCain challenged Obama, should he be the Democratic nominee, to do the same. But Obama, given the vast sums he has raised, has hedged on an earlier commitment to do so.

Aides to McCain stressed that the campaign in recent weeks has built up its fund-raising operation by bringing in President Bush's top rainmakers.

A recent fund-raising event at The Plaza - hosted by former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato - raised $2 million for McCain.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis insisted the glass was more than half full, especially at a time when Obama and Clinton are pummeling each other.

"Donors are enthusiastically stepping up to provide the campaign with the resources it will need to compete with the well-funded Democratic nominee," Davis said.

carl.campanile@nypost.com