It's that time of year again, folks. June 30 is the second-quarter fund-raising deadline for 2008 presidential hopefuls, and the big question heading into Saturday is how much money the campaigns have raised and spent during the last three months. Technically, the candidates don't have to tell us until July 15, when their disclosure reports are due at the Federal Election Commission. But if their handling of the first-quarter numbers is any indication, the candidates will probably brag about how much they've raised well before the deadline, possibly as early as next week.

But "brag" might be a strong word. Already many candidates are playing the expectations game--as in, uh oh, maybe we didn't do as well as we hoped. Some of this is smoke and mirrors. Hillary Clinton types, for example, are spreading word that she might be beaten by Barack Obama again when it comes to primary fund-raising, while Obama aides, off the record of course, are putting the onus on Hillary, talking a sad story about how tough it is to compete against the Clinton money juggernaut. The truth is, we just won't know until we see the numbers.

But one thing is clear: the buzz is not so great on the GOP side, where Republicans nationally have struggled to raise more money than Democrats this year. After a dismal first-quarter report--at least in a crowded primary--John McCain has repeatedly put out word this week that his fund-raising has been tough going, most recently in an e-mail plea for money sent to supporters just today. In an interview with The Des Moines Register, McCain said raising money has been "very difficult."

"I am confident that we'll have enough money to do what we need to do," he said. "I'm pretty confident we're not as good as some of the others." But he's not the only one talking down the money. Mitt Romney, who raised more than anyone on the GOP side during the first three months of the year, announced this week that he'll be contributing another few million of his own cash to his campaign again. This is significant because his campaign downplayed his initial $2.3 million check earlier this year as "start-up costs." If his fund-raising is doing so well, his opponents argue, why would Romney need to contribute to himself again? The former Massachusetts governor told reporters earlier this week that he's doing it because others are "making sacrifices" on his behalf.

Rudy Giuliani, who has been quiet about his numbers, is expected to raise at least another $15 million or so this quarter, if not more. John Edwards, who raised $14 million during the first three months of the year, is under pressure to raise at least that much again in order to be perceived as financially competitive against Clinton and Obama. Fred Thompson, who is still in the "testing the waters" phase, won't have to file until after September--unless he suddenly decides officially to declare sometime Friday or Saturday.

In a year where so much expectation has been placed on money, it gets much tougher after this weekend for the so-called second-tier candidates like Sam Brownback, Chris Dodd, Mike Huckabee and Bill Richardson. But don't write anyone off yet. Consider four years ago, when Howard Dean was the front runner and raising more money than anyone else. He was considered unstoppable on his road to the nomination, but John Kerry eventually trampled him. Just goes to show that anything is possible in presidential politics.