NYT: Worries in G.O.P. About Disarray in McCain Camp

[Barack_America]

Worries in G.O.P. About Disarray in McCain Camp

By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: May 25, 2008

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign is in a troubled stretch, hindered by resignations of staff members, a lagging effort to build a national campaign organization and questions over whether he has taken full advantage of Democratic turmoil to present a case for his candidacy, Republicans say.

In interviews, some party leaders said they were worried about signs of disorder in his campaign, and if the focus in the last several weeks on the prominent role of lobbyists in Mr. McCain’s inner circle might undercut the heart of his general election message: that he is a reformer taking on special interests in Washington.

“The core image of John McCain is as a reformer in Washington — and the more dominant the story is about the lobbying teams around him, the more you put that into question,” said Terry Nelson, who was Mr. McCain’s campaign manager until he left in a shake-up last fall. “If the Obama campaign can truly change him from being seen as a reformer to just being another Washington politician, it could be very damaging over the course of the campaign.”

-snip-

More than that, they said, Mr. McCain organizationally still seems far behind where President Bush was in 2004. Several Republican Party leaders said they were worried the campaign was losing an opportunity as they waited for approval to open offices and set up telephone banks.

“They finally assigned someone to West Virginia three weeks ago,” said Doug McKinney, the state Republican chairman there. “I had a couple of contacts with him and I e-mailed him twice and I never heard back. I finally called and they said that the guy had resigned.”

Mr. McCain’s campaign has transmitted conflicting messages in recent days about how he would present himself, as he has sought to reassure conservatives nervous about his ideological consistency even as he has tried to expand his appeal to moderates and liberals.

He recently spent three days talking about global warming, a subject he used to emphasize his differences with Mr. Bush. But he ended that week with a high-profile speech to the National Rifle Association, a group suspicious of his views on gun control.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/us/politics/25mccain.html?pagewanted=1&hp&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1211695231-EXBDwnvwng25XJpol5lGlA


This scenario of changing messages and sluggish ground organization sounds a bit familiar, no?

[Douglas Carpenter]

1. you beat me to it.. I just read the article myself and was going to post - k&r

[Barack_America]

2. I found it an interesting contrast to that silly article linked on Politico...

Where GOP operatives speculated that November may be a landslide...for McCain.

:rofl:

It was an obvious plant. Perhaps now we know why...

[Douglas Carpenter]

5. It was the same exact article that inspired me to want to post it to

[thewiseguy]

3. He should be polling much better given the infighting that we have

I suspect Nov will be a landslide for the democrats. The focus has not even been on McCain yet and he has not faced the same scrutiny that Obama or Hillary have faced.

His time will come soon and that could pretty much put him out of this race.

[americanstranger]

4. Man, how completely stupid do you have to be

to buy the idea of McCain as a 'reformer taking on special interests in Washington?'

They really must be depending on those 'low-information' voters.

- as

[Douglas Carpenter]

7. lots of ordinary people also think he is a "liberal Republican" - no doubt some think he is a dove

Once ideas get into the public consciousness - it takes a lot to change them.

[uponit7771]

6. I finally called and they said that the guy had resigned.

[Barack_America]

8. Yeah. That quote jumped out at me as well.

He may have been the smartest one in the campaign.

:rofl: