Of the many differences between John McCain and Barack Obama, here's the one that may prove most consequential come November: McCain has to come to the money; with Obama, the money comes to him.

Case in point. Last night, the Arizona senator came to the Sheraton in midtown Manhattan--not exactly swing-vote central--for one of the biggest fundraisers in New York political history. And by "big," we mean "most expensive." Scoring tickets to the main cocktail reception? $2,300. Getting into the VIP pre-party for a photo with McCain? $25,000. Having the honor of serving as one of 19 "co-hosts"? $100,000. Hearing Rudy Giuliani speak? Priceless.

By the time Henry Kissinger, Al D'Amato, Donald Trump, insurance titan Hank Greenberg, Blockbuster founder Wayne Huizenga, corporate raider Carl Icahn and former Democrat Joe Lieberman (along with 800 other supporters) left the building--the $100,000 crew also attended an afterparty at the home of Jets owner Woody Johnson--McCain had reportedly pocketed a cool $7 million.

The problem?

Well, setting aside the fact that the official McCain campaign can only accept a fraction of that total--anything over $2,300 per person goes to a hybrid "Victory" committee that redirects individual contributions of up to $70,000 through various McCain-centric funds--it's all, like, totally 1996. For comparison's sake, consider Obama's February fundraising haul: $55 million. That's $2 million a day, every day of the month. Because the vast majority of the moolah ($45 million, to be exact) came from hundreds of thousands of online donations of less than $200 each, Obama didn't have to waste valuable campaign time pleading with money men. Instead, he was out on the stump, winning over voters. Not only is McCain frittering away his credibility as a campaign-finance reformer by relying on a combined fund designed to skirt the very limits he himself put in place, but he's spending far more time and energy fundraising than Obama ever will—and still raising far less cash (as in, $40 million less each month). Unless his staff can somehow organize two $7-million galas per week for the remainder of the race, that disparity will continue through Election Day.

I wouldn't put my money on it.