Could be but...the point is he HAS them. McCain needs to do something equal otherwise he is doomed.
Republicans don’t have equally large crowds for protests or speeches because Republican voters are employed. Republican voters are the silent majority, not the loud professional protestors and grandstanders.
McCain is doing very well right now. To be statistically tied at this point in the race? Dukakis had a 17% lead at this point on GHWB and lost. Kerry and Gore had large leads on GWB and got their rear ends handed to them. No, unless something changes the current dynamics will mean a McCain landslide. Republicans always do better as the public has more time to compare them to their Dem counterparts and as a rule about 5% better than the election day polls.
Really the only way I see McCain losing this is a major blunder on his part.