I hate to kick a guy when he's down, but ...
... for John McCain, I'll make an exception. Chris Cillizza has the latest on the campaign that never had a chance:
The news just keeps getting worse for Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign.
Today, Ed Failor and Karen Slifka -- two prominent Iowa Republican activists -- resigned from the campaign.
In an e-mail Failor said he and Slifka had agreed to stay with the campaign on a volunteer basis after reports that McCain's was lagging in fundraising, but he said the dismissal of campaign manager Terry Nelson meant that they had to break all ties to the campaign.
"Despite my fondness for Sen. McCain, I decided to resign today because the leadership team I trust and agreed to serve is no longer in place," wrote Failor.
Failor and Slifka were both seen as major "gets" for McCain's Iowa leadership team. Failor is the executive vice president of Iowans for Tax Relief, and also managed the Iowa coordinated campaign for Bush in 2004. Slifka served as the midwest political director for the Republican National Committee in 2006 and held the same position for the Bush campaign two years earlier.
Both are highly coveted and are likely to be heavily courted by rival GOP candidates, particularly Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.
McCain's staff -- both nationally and in key states -- continues to be hit by major defections. Can he possibly rebuild what was once one of the best staffs and organizations in the GOP nomination race?
John McCain has a boatload of problems, and all of them generally seem to be circulating around his inability to raise the funds needed to stay in the race, and his paltry showings in the polls. He is in third place now, according to the new Gallup polls, languishing around 16%. Worse, this past Sunday it was reported that some on his staff are urging him to quit the Senate and become a full-time candidate. They see his continued presence in the Senate as a hindrance. And before anyone goes nuts (because Arizona does have a Democrat governor) there would be a special election for his seat. But McCain's not going to resign.
He knows the writing's on the wall, and he's probably not going to win. So he still needs his seat to fall back on when that happens. His woes are coming from the simple fact that he lost the base a long time ago. Throw Fred Thompson into the mix, who is polling second at about 20%, and you have another headache -- one we predicted back in May -- in the fact that Fred is bleeding McCain badly. Not only is it coming in Fred's ability to garner support and funds, but also in picking up the staffers from the McCain campaign that are either let go or are defecting.
Johnny's got problems. All of them, for the most part, were brought on by himself. You can't tick the people off, and then ask them to vote for you. He had his chance in 2000 of being president before the meltdown in South Carolina. This time around, there is no one to blame but himself for the disaster of a campaign that he's created. He doesn't need to quit the Senate (though neither of us would mind that terribly), but he needs to get out of this race. Throw in the towel and be content with the fact that while he may see a president in the mirror in the morning, the base doesn't.
Publius II
The news just keeps getting worse for Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign.
Today, Ed Failor and Karen Slifka -- two prominent Iowa Republican activists -- resigned from the campaign.
In an e-mail Failor said he and Slifka had agreed to stay with the campaign on a volunteer basis after reports that McCain's was lagging in fundraising, but he said the dismissal of campaign manager Terry Nelson meant that they had to break all ties to the campaign.
"Despite my fondness for Sen. McCain, I decided to resign today because the leadership team I trust and agreed to serve is no longer in place," wrote Failor.
Failor and Slifka were both seen as major "gets" for McCain's Iowa leadership team. Failor is the executive vice president of Iowans for Tax Relief, and also managed the Iowa coordinated campaign for Bush in 2004. Slifka served as the midwest political director for the Republican National Committee in 2006 and held the same position for the Bush campaign two years earlier.
Both are highly coveted and are likely to be heavily courted by rival GOP candidates, particularly Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.
McCain's staff -- both nationally and in key states -- continues to be hit by major defections. Can he possibly rebuild what was once one of the best staffs and organizations in the GOP nomination race?
John McCain has a boatload of problems, and all of them generally seem to be circulating around his inability to raise the funds needed to stay in the race, and his paltry showings in the polls. He is in third place now, according to the new Gallup polls, languishing around 16%. Worse, this past Sunday it was reported that some on his staff are urging him to quit the Senate and become a full-time candidate. They see his continued presence in the Senate as a hindrance. And before anyone goes nuts (because Arizona does have a Democrat governor) there would be a special election for his seat. But McCain's not going to resign.
He knows the writing's on the wall, and he's probably not going to win. So he still needs his seat to fall back on when that happens. His woes are coming from the simple fact that he lost the base a long time ago. Throw Fred Thompson into the mix, who is polling second at about 20%, and you have another headache -- one we predicted back in May -- in the fact that Fred is bleeding McCain badly. Not only is it coming in Fred's ability to garner support and funds, but also in picking up the staffers from the McCain campaign that are either let go or are defecting.
Johnny's got problems. All of them, for the most part, were brought on by himself. You can't tick the people off, and then ask them to vote for you. He had his chance in 2000 of being president before the meltdown in South Carolina. This time around, there is no one to blame but himself for the disaster of a campaign that he's created. He doesn't need to quit the Senate (though neither of us would mind that terribly), but he needs to get out of this race. Throw in the towel and be content with the fact that while he may see a president in the mirror in the morning, the base doesn't.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 3:33 PM
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