John McCain, gearing up for a fight against what likely will be a better-funded Democratic rival, is crafting a careful strategy to maximize every voting bloc and every dollar.

With the Democratic candidates digging their heels in for a prolonged primary fight, McCain is focusing his early game plan on reclaiming battleground states and leaning on the Republican National Committee for fundraising, as well as quietly and cautiously selecting a running mate.

Top McCain advisers told reporters Friday that the presumptive GOP nominee has doubled the number of competitive swing states over those that were competitive for President Bush in 2004.

That jibes with the plan McCain has talked about from the stump, which involves campaigning hard outside GOP strongholds even when it means catching flak from the nearby Democratic firefight. Leaving no electoral stone unturned, he was in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin this week, and is even talking about spending more time in California.

"I will travel all over America and compete in every part of America," McCain said Tuesday in Villanova, Pa., calling the Keystone State one of his battlegrounds. "But we'll be going to places where no Republican -- not only no Republican candidate has ever appeared, but no presidential candidate has ever appeared. Because I want to assure Americans that none of them are going to be left behind."

Click here to read more about the McCain campaign's strategy session.

The McCain campaign handed out a polling map Friday showing 41 states as either Republican territory or tossups. They identified 23 swing states, which even included true blue states like Delaware, New Jersey, Washington and Oregon.

McCain also is broadening his pitch in his efforts to broaden his appeal, talking more about economic issues after a primary campaign in which he took heat for being weak in that area. He fleshed out his economic plan Tuesday in Pittsburgh, merging his call for an extension of President Bush's tax cuts with a populist appeal to eliminate federal gas taxes for the summer season. He introduced that bill Thursday in the Senate. A week earlier, he proposed a multibillion-dollar government plan to give aid to struggling homeowners, though Democrats blasted him for arriving late to the housing crisis issue.

Campaign Manager Rick Davis acknowledged that McCain faces "significant environmental hurdles." Bush's approval ratings are in the low 30's. But Davis said continued efforts by the Democrats to link McCain with Bush will fail.

Advisers also touted their campaign structure of 11 regional political managers with free reign over three to five states a piece. That's about double the number of regional managers Bush had in 2004. The campaign argues their structure allows directors to better understand their states and spend money more wisely.

Following the Dollar

When it comes to fundraising, McCain's expected plans to take up to $84 million in public financing could put him at a disadvantage against his Democratic rival.

The differences between GOP and Democratic fundraising were evident in the end-of-February report. McCain reported raising $64.7 million so far this cycle, compared with $173.8 million for Clinton and $197.3 million for Obama.

But the McCain campaign disputes the assumption that it will be hurting for cash, given the help it will have from the Republican National Committee. Already, the national party has more than $20 million at the ready, and Davis detailed the campaign's "joint committee," which through different fundraising pools allows donors to contribute up to $70,000 each to the campaign.

Plus, the campaign argues that they've proved in the primary they can do more with less. McCain aides said there also will be "diminishing returns" for any money spent above $120 million in the general election.

Running Mate Selection

The Arizona senator also is taking great care to lay the groundwork for his next big political decision -- his running mate. That moment is considered by the campaign the next potential game-changer for the general election race.

The process is being kept so close to the vest that only a handful of aides know about it. Advisers refused to even discuss the matter Friday. But where the presumptive GOP nominee spends his time could be a strong indication of where he will lean when he makes that choice.

Ron Faucheux, political analyst, professor and former editor of Campaigns & Elections magazine, said swing state governors look great on paper when it comes to potential vice presidential picks.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, a former governor of Pennsylvania, is high on his list of VP bets. So is Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Both states went Democratic in the 2004 presidential election, but not by much.

Click here to read more about what political oddsmakers think of McCain's VP candidates.

But Faucheux said with McCain, looking good on paper probably isn't enough.

"John McCain is not somebody who's going to trust just anybody," he told FOXNews.com. "There may be people who are perfectly logical on paper to be a vice presidential candidate ... that he's already decided a long time ago that he wouldn't pick."

Faucheux said the Arizona senator will want to pick somebody who looks experienced, especially when sized up against freshman Sen. Barack Obama (if he is the rival nominee). He said McCain will also have to pick someone who's acceptable to the Republican base without catering to the hard right.

"I think he wants to preserve his image of being a maverick moderate and I don't think he wants to damage that for political reasons," he said.

"The first requirement for a vice presidential nominee is that they do no harm to the ticket," pollster Scott Rasmussen told FOXNews.com.

He brushed off the speculation about former rivals like Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney joining the ticket, since he said they would repel some moderates in a general election.

"If you're a young Republican governor, you're probably somewhat in the running," he added.

McCain won't give any clues himself. Asked about it Monday, McCain said, "Let me just say that I hope that we could arrive at that decision earlier rather than later, but it is a long process to go through."

He said in early April that he's choosing from a list of about 20 people, and that while he wants to announce his selection before the convention in September the process could take weeks, if not months.

Aides say the timing of the announcement is important, and they prefer to wait until after the Democratic vice presidential nominee is chosen. But with the Obama-Hillary Clinton race in flux, the McCain campaign may not have that luxury.

Staying on the Radar Screen

As for the Democratic race, one aide said McCain has no plans to trail that contest just to stay in the mix.

"You have seen in weeks past, and the weeks going forward that we are consistently in states where the Democrats aren't necessarily campaigning that day," spokesman Tucker Bounds said.

But McCain is certainly picking fights with Clinton and Obama, when he has the opportunity, and wedging his way onto the radar screen that way.

McCain, for instance, weighed in this week on the controversy over Obama's comments in California that small-town voters are "bitter" over lost jobs -- an issue considered a potential goldmine for Republicans in November. Adviser Steve Schmidt said it's "crucial" because "all elections at the end of the day are about what does the American president believe about the American people?"

Columnist and former Bill Clinton adviser Dick Morris told FOX News that McCain is "the right Republican to take advantage of this" given his popularity among Democrats. He said the divisions in the Democratic primary race are running so deep now that a significant number of Democrats could bail for McCain.

Recent polls show McCain faring better in head-to-head general election match-ups the longer the Democratic race goes on. Morris called the prospect of a Democratic convention floor fight a "nuclear catastrophe" for the Democratic Party.

Faucheux said the Arizona senator "has the luxury to sort of pick his shots" when it comes to the Democratic candidates. He said McCain can still lay back and pile on the vulnerabilities of the front-runner.

"It's kind of a free throw for him," he said.

FOX News' Mosheh Oinounou, Judson Berger and Bonney Kapp contributed to this report.