McCain Raised $21.5 Million In May

CBS News has learned that John McCain raised $21.5 million in May, his best fund-raising month of the campaign. He will report having $31.5 million cash-on-hand.

Barack Obama's fundraising numbers for May are not yet available. At the end of April he had $36.9 million cash-on-hand available for the general election.

Obama is expected to have a significant fundraising edge over McCain, and will likely be the first candidate to forgo public financing in the general election since the system the system was created in 1974.

As the Los Angeles Times reports today, Obama's fundraising prowess will allow him to begin advertising far earlier than presidential candidates have traditionally been able to. As the newspaper points out, Obama has already raised three times as much as McCain – $265 million to McCain's $90 million – though the Republican National Committee and outside groups are expected to spend hevily on McCain's behalf. Both McCain and Obama are trying to win over donors to Hillary Clinton, who will officially suspend her campaign Saturday.

Also today, Politico breaks down the fundraising landscape facing the two presumptive nominees. The takeaway: "A review of campaign finance data offers not one ounce of good news and barely any hope for the McCain campaign's ability to compete with Obama's fundraising prowess."