UPDATE: Two more departures – political director Rob Jesmer and deputy campaign manager Reed Galen.
This morning, the top two figures in the McCain for President campaign, Campaign Manager Terry Nelson (pictured) and John Weaver, abruptly and unexpectedly — quit.
Senator McCain’s longtime advisor Rick Davis is stepping up to fill the role, begging the question of whether McCain’s campaign is (rather quickly) transitioning from a major nationwide effort that had him topping the polls for some time, to one of those pained campaigns where the esteemed U.S. Senator runs around America running for President, when everyone knows he is not a factor.
Momentum is important for a campaign — more positive things beget more positive things. The reverse is also true — bad news can quickly multiply and leave a once prosperous candidate looking for the proverbial license plate of the car that ran them over.
McCain’s going to have to really pull off something amazing here, or he’ll be watching his remaining financial supporters jump ship, leaving him with only those who traditionally give to an entrenched senior Senator. That will not enable him to collect the resources necessary to be taken seriously.
As an interesting side note, Steve Schmidt, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s former campaign manager, is a partner at Mercury Public Affairs with Terry Nelson. You have to wonder if the other shoe will now drop, and Schmidt will depart as well, perhaps to be grabbed up by Thompson or some other ersatz Republican President.
H/T to Drudge who also has a brief statement from McCain.
July 10th, 2007 at 12:00 am
I asked a few weeks ago if Steve Schmidt could give the readers here at FR an update on how the McCain campaign is going. We have the answer now.
July 10th, 2007 at 12:00 am
It has been a real joy watching the McCain campaign this year.