McCain’s staff gets the the first turn: McCain Orders Shake-Up of His Campaign.
Responding to Republican concerns that his candidacy was faltering, Mr. McCain put a veteran of President Bush’s 2004 campaign in charge of day-to-day operations and stepped away from a plan to have the campaign run by 11 regional managers, Mr. McCain’s aides said Wednesday.
The installation of Steve Schmidt, who worked closely with Karl Rove, at Mr. McCain’s headquarters represented a sharp diminishment of the responsibilities of Rick Davis, who has been Mr. McCain’s campaign manager since the last shake-up nearly a year ago.
Now the question is: is this the last “shake-up” of this campaign season? And if not, will Obama take a turn next? My bet is that there will be another “shake-up” and that it will be McCain doing it for a third time. (Just a gut-based guess–and Obama has had that effect on oppossing campaigns).
Beyond silly guessing-games, one suspects that this move will be cast as another example of this being Bush 3:
Mr. Schmidt’s elevation is the latest sign of increasing influence of veterans of Mr. Rove’s shop in the McCain operation. Nicolle Wallace, who was communications director for Mr. Bush in the 2004 campaign (and in his White House) has joined the campaign as a senior adviser, and will travel with Mr. McCain every other week. Greg Jenkins, another veteran of Mr. Rove’s operation who is a former Fox News producer and director of the presidential advance team in the Bush White House, was hired by Mr. Schmidt last week after a series of what Mr. McCain’s advisers acknowledged were poorly executed campaign events.Sphere: Related Content
