Graham opponent's cash balance: $983

$983. That's how much money Democrat Bob Conley has in his fight to unseat U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, according to recent federal campaign filings. And then there's Conley's debt of $3,692, as well.

Graham

ConleyThe Associated Press first reported the story, but you can see the campaign filing for yourself. The Federal Election Commission also has a list of who has contributed to Conley's campaign, and, as the AP reports, the majority of those donors aren't even from South Carolina.

So how's Graham doing? Well, his filings (also available online) show a significantly brighter financial situation, with about $3.6 million on hand and, more importantly, a big fat zero in that debt column. By the way, did you know his middle name was Olin?

Here's the list of contributors to Graham's campaign, also. (Graham's is slightly larger than Conley's, so it's broken down into groups of letters by last name.)

So does this mean that Conley hasn't got a chance? I wouldn't say he has no chance, but, you know, between practically no funding and the fact that most South Carolinians are happy with Graham, it's going to be pretty difficult to give folks a reason to vote for Conley. (That article is a couple of years old, but a lot of it is still relevant.) CQ Politics has even gone so far as to give Graham re-election bid the "easy ride" tag, based mainly on Public Policy Polling numbers that show him with a 54%-32% edge over Conley.

But, then again, Conley does have some support among conservatives, despite being the Democratic nominee. Charleston City Paper's Jack Hunter is even urging Republicans to go Democrat in the Senate race, because of his opposition to Graham and Conley's generally conservative vision. (Conley left the Republican Party out of frustration.)

From Charleston City Paper:

Quite frankly, Sen. Graham, your brand of conservatism sucks. It's not even conservative. On crucial issues like immigration, Iraq, and spending, Graham stands for broken borders, botched invasions, and bloated budgets. Conley doesn't.