All of you guys who say you'll never vote for Obama

[baldheadeddork]

Bonus Daily McCain - The problem isn't the candidate, its the campaign staff. (Version 3.0)

Steve Schmidt is taking over the day-to-day operation of John McCain’s campaign, according to multiple campaign sources.

At a staff meeting in the campaign's Arlington, Va., headquarters this morning, campaign manager Rick Davis made the announcement about Schmidt's new role.

Schmidt, a bald and barrel-chested operative known for his aggressive brand of political combat, responded by exhorting campaign aides with a speech that one staffer likened to a locker room pep talk out of the football movie "Rudy."

After the meeting, on a regularly scheduled conference call with McCain's 11 regional campaign managers, senior staff briefed the field aides about the move, explaining Davis would focus more on long-range tasks while Schmidt was taking an enhanced daily role, said a person on the call.

McCain sources say Schmidt, who ran Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign and was a top communications aide in Bush-Cheney '04, will coordinate the campaign's daily pro-McCain and anti-Obama message but also will have an increased role in shaping most every facet of the organization including scheduling, policy, coalitions and surrogates.

Davis will focus more on big-picture issues such as general strategy, helping to plan the convention, picking a vice president and tending to the needs of major donors.

(snip)

A handful of his fellow Bushworld veterans are also taking on more high-profile roles.

Mike DuHaime, the former Rudy Giuliani campaign manager and RNC political director who had been split between the RNC and McCain, is likely to take an enhanced role in the campaign.

Further, there is likely to be more structure brought to a political operation that has largely been delegated to the Regional Campaign Managers. The campaign currently has no political or field director.

Helping Schmidt drive the new daily message will be Matt McDonald, also a veteran of the Schwarzenegger campaign and Bush-Cheney reelection effort, who just started at the campaign a few weeks ago.

McDonald is working with McCain's press shop in trying to get on offense, sharpening attacks on Obama and pushing a more consistent narrative against the Democrat.

Also coming on board is Taylor Griffin, a former White House and Treasury spokesman, to work closely with reporters and push the campaign's economic message.

Perhaps most important for the campaign's image is the addition of Greg Jenkins, a veteran advance man who ran presidential advance in the Bush White House. Jenkins, also an aide on Bush's 2000 campaign, is working to ensure better stagecraft of McCain's events and to avoid a reprisal of the much-mocked green background behind McCain at a high-profile speech last month.

A couple of things here...

First, as I alluded to above, this will be the third campaign team McCain has had in this one election. In one year, actually. One year ago today he fired his first team.

Second, as the article notes this isn't just a shakeup at the top. Schmidt is bringing in an entirely new executive staff and creating a new organizational structure for the campaign. (The old setup of having a small central campaign and eleven strong regional managers is out, replaced by a single hierarchical organization under the direct control of the Virginia headquarters.) That means he's going to be essentially starting his campaign from scratch in July of the election year.

Third, take a look at the common thread for the new guys. They're all vets of the Bush/Cheney campaigns. They're Rove's boys. The Bushification of John McCain is complete.

[jiffy]

Originally Posted by baldheadeddork

Bonus Daily McCain - The problem isn't the candidate, its the campaign staff. (Version 3.0)



A couple of things here...

First, as I alluded to above, this will be the third campaign team McCain has had in this one election. In one year, actually. One year ago today he fired his first team.

Second, as the article notes this isn't just a shakeup at the top. Schmidt is bringing in an entirely new executive staff and creating a new organizational structure for the campaign. (The old setup of having a small central campaign and eleven strong regional managers is out, replaced by a single hierarchical organization under the direct control of the Virginia headquarters.) That means he's going to be essentially starting his campaign from scratch in July of the election year.

Third, take a look at the common thread for the new guys. They're all vets of the Bush/Cheney campaigns. They're Rove's boys. The Bushification of John McCain is complete.

You could call it a bushification or you could say he wants a winning team. Bush did win two elections... it all depends on how you look at it.

[SXSMITH]

Jim Schmidt is running McCain's campaign?

How do you guys get that worked out!!

[Gaolee]

Originally Posted by jiffy

You could call it a bushification or you could say he wants a winning team. Bush did win two elections... it all depends on how you look at it.

Both points are true, except the stuff that worked eight and four years ago may not work again. I expect to see a lot more gutter poltics coming from McCain's campaign now, since that's how those guys worked.

[baldheadeddork]

Originally Posted by jiffy

You could call it a bushification or you could say he wants a winning team. Bush did win two elections... it all depends on how you look at it.

If it was anyone else McCain, I probably wouldn't think twice about it. But I remember what these same people did to him in South Carolina eight years ago. If someone smeared you like that, would you ever help them pay their bills and feed their kids? You may want to hire someone who can attack your opponent that way, but hell would freeze before I gave one dime to the SOB's who did that to me. I think its pretty craven for McCain to bring all of them on board.

Beyond that, I think this makes McCain's biggest problem a lot worse. The #1 problem voters have with him is that they think he'll be another four years of George Bush. The people he's hired now got George Bush elected. Can he expect them to turn 180 and say that everything they argued for four years ago and the president they elected was wrong? Campaigns have a lot of huge egos at this level of the staff, these people rarely admit mistakes when they lose and McCain will need them to say what the country got because they won was wrong. I think they're going to tell McCain that Bush isn't a problem, and that can hurt him.

[Dakota Kid]

Originally Posted by SXSMITH

Jim Schmidt is running McCain's campaign?

How do you guys get that worked out!!

LOL. I am sure it is one of Jims distinguished relatives. He has friends and famly in high places, you know.