Strategists Hope Schmidt Puts McCain's Campaign on the Right Track
Steve Schmidt takes over day-to-day operations from campaign manager Rick Davis
It was a long time coming: Today's shake-up of GOP nominee John McCain's leadership team follows weeks of harsh—and increasingly public—criticism by influential members of his own party who say they have been alarmed at what they have seen as the campaign's lack of focus and poor planning.
In elevating senior adviser Steve Schmidt to take control of the campaign's day-to-day operations from campaign manager Rick Davis, McCain turned to an aggressive strategist who helped engineer Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful re-election in California and who worked for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004. Davis will continue to serve as a top strategist and is expected to retain his title.
Top Republicans have been expressing frustration about the lack of focus of McCain's campaign, its failure to hit a consistent "message of the day," its lack of outreach to cultural conservatives, and poorly stage-managed campaign events. "His schedule has been unbelievable," said one strategist close to the McCain campaign. "They have him all over the place, no consistency—it's been incredible."
A key fundraiser for the party says that there has been great disappointment in the ranks of cultural conservatives over the lack of outreach by McCain. "Who talked to Franklin Graham first? Barack Obama," he said. "Who met with Rick Warren? Obama. It's silly." McCain, he said, has, for example, an "extraordinary record on Darfur," an issue that resonates with young evangelicals, but his campaign has not made that an issue within the conservative Christian community. The campaign has also suffered, said one strategist, from its reluctance to bring on board experienced hands from the Bush-Cheney world. Schmidt's promotion could signal what party leaders view as a welcome easing of that aversion.
It was nearly one year ago, on July 10, that the McCain campaign announced the stunning resignations of the candidate's top two aides—campaign manager Terry Nelson, a mastermind of President Bush's 2004 run, and longtime friend and chief strategist John Weaver. On that day, it was Rick Davis, then the campaign's chief executive officer, who took over as manager.
—Liz Halloran
Reader Comments
More like Bush
I was dissapointed with the Bush administration, but open to what the Republican party has to offer. Seeing McCain get closer and closer to all the people that played a role in the Bush administration, makes me less likely to vote for him.
I'm looking for someone with his own vision and ideas, I'm not convinced McCain has them.
Leadership
Our potential leaders, presumptive leaders, have become puppets in a machine. I want to see whether these so-called leaders can lead, whether they can be of such material to actually lead a nation of people in every area, from planning campaign strategy & choreography, to knowing themselves what their message is and how to get it across, and how to put it into effect in the service of the people they would hope (but pretend) to lead.
But instead Mr McCain has people around him to tell him what to do. This isn't leadership, folks. Aids are one thing, but this goes beyond that. Mr. Obama seems to be in a similar situation, though I get the sense his is possibly more of a team with him as leader, at least to some degree more so than McCain.
Where are the real leaders? No one leads without good alliances and help, but this is something else. Mr McCain, and Mr. Obama, like most other Presidents of the United States (though maybe not all) are puppets of something greater... and I don't mean the people of this country... something else....
A healthy horse herd has better and surer leadership than this country does... than any human country presently does.
cultural conservatives
McCain should be praised for not being a Christian right lap dog. When will we take seriously the constitutional demand to keep the state separate from religion? We should make it unconstitutional for any member of an organized religion to hold public office. Of course hell will freeze over in America before that happens.
Neo-Atheists for McCain
advertisement
