His campaign fund had dwindled to just $4,500 by

the beginning of this year,

but U.S. Sen. John McCain

has since collected $1.8

million in his bid for a

fourth term.

Although the Arizona

Republican's fund-raising

prowess is daunting, the

state's Democratic Party

sees an even greater

advantage for McCain:

"He is a formidable candidate mainly because he is more

popular in our party than in

his own," said Jim Pederson, state Democratic Party

chairman.

Unlike the 2000 election, in which Democrats left GOP

Sen. Jon Kyl unchallenged in

winning a second term, the party will field a candidate

against McCain within the

next several months, Pederson said.

"We're going to be realistic about it," Pederson said of

McCain's popularity, "but that

doesn't mean we won't be putting up a viable candidate."

Many Democrats admire McCain because "he's a voice of

independence," Pederson

said. "He is not aligned with the far right wing of the

Republican Party, and he's not

in lockstep with all of the administration's policies."

McCain campaign adviser Rick Davis said he doubts the

senator is "more popular"

among Democrats, terming him "equally popular" instead.

The latest quarterly campaign-finance reports, filed

last week, show McCain's

re-election committee has spent about $700,000, leaving

a cash balance of $1.1

million as of June 30.

Eighty-five cents of every dollar raised came from

individual contributors, while 15

cents came from political action committees.

Nearly $500,000 of the individual contributions came in

amounts smaller than $200.

No breakdown by source is available, but most of the

small donations probably

arrived via the Internet, Davis said.

In his 2000 presidential campaign, McCain became one of

the earliest and most

successful online fund-raisers. After he won the New

Hampshire primary, his

committee's Internet appeal generated online

contributions totaling $500,000 in a

day, and $4 million in three weeks.