McCain Shakes Up 2008 Campaign

(AP)  Republican John McCain reorganized his campaign Monday, cutting staff in every department as he raised just $11.2 million in the last three months and reported an abysmal $2 million cash on hand for his presidential bid.

"We confronted reality and we dealt with it in the best way that we could so that we could move forward with this campaign focused on winning our primaries in the early states," said Terry Nelson, McCain's campaign manager.

Once considered the front-runner for the GOP nomination, McCain trails top Republican rivals in money and polls.

More than 50 staffers, and perhaps as many as 80 to 100, were being let go, and senior aides will be subject to pay cuts as the Arizona senator bows to six months of subpar fundraising, according to officials with knowledge of the details of the shake up. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the campaign would not publicly discuss details of the restructuring.

McCain's tally in the second financial quarter, which ended Saturday, is expected to trail those of Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, who have not yet released their totals. In the first quarter, McCain came in third and raised just $13.6 million.

Officials said the fundamental leadership of the campaign will not change; Nelson, a veteran of President Bush's winning 2004 campaign, will remain campaign manager but said he would volunteer his time instead of drawing a salary for the next few months.

At its peak, McCain's payroll covered 150 staffers; this is the second round of layoffs.

The campaign said it was seriously considering taking public matching funds, which Nelson said would amount to about $6 million. That would be a major shift in strategy for McCain and could tie the campaign's hands by limiting the amount of money it can spend in individual states.

Nelson said the campaign made "incorrect assumptions" about its fundraising ability.

"At one point, we believed that we would raise over $100 million during this calendar year, and we constructed a campaign that was based on that assumption," Nelson said. That, he said, proved to be wrong.

The financial difficulties have fueled speculation that McCain would drop out of the race but he dismissed that notion Thursday, calling it "ridiculous." He argued that voters won't start paying close attention until the fall, and said: "I don't know why I would even remotely consider such a thing in the month of June, or July."

Six months before primary voting begins, McCain is struggling for some semblance of momentum.

His popularity among Republicans has dropped since the start of the year. He has become intimately linked to the unpopular Iraq war, and, in recent weeks, he's drawn criticism from already wary conservatives for his support of Bush's immigration reform bill. He declined to participate in an early test of organizational strength in the leadoff state of Iowa this summer, and, he's fighting the perception that he's yesterday's candidate.

McCain's support in national polls has slipped. He is in single digits in some surveys in Iowa and South Carolina, trailing Giuliani, the former New York mayor; Romney, the ex-governor of Massachusetts, and Fred Thompson, the actor and former Tennessee senator who's not yet in the race officially.

As 2006 ended, McCain had cast himself as the inevitable candidate and built an expansive national campaign organization that melded top operatives from Bush's political team with his own base of longtime loyalists from his failed 2000 presidential run.

But the money hasn't come in as planned, and the initial spending was excessive.

From January through March, McCain spent nearly $1.6 million on payroll for his staff, the highest among Republican candidates. Romney was second at $1.1 million and Giuliani spent nearly $900,000.

As the second financial quarter began in April, the campaign cut some consultant contracts and low-to-mid-level jobs, and revamped its finance operation.

Despite the changes, McCain's fundraising continued to lag, and officials said more staff cuts were needed to ensure he had enough money to compete in the early voting states and run television ads.

The shake-up comes as McCain embarks on his sixth trip to Iraq, where he will spend the July 4 holiday with U.S. troops. In his last visit to Iraq in April, he was widely criticized for saying he was cautiously optimistic of success even as he toured Baghdad under heavy military guard. Iraqis accused him of painting too rosy a picture and U.S. critics argued he was out of step with reality.

[abbe7]

Comments back on the infamous "half-pardon" in the proper section. Bye.

[terrapin78]

John- The Fat Lady is Singin'. Are you listenin'?

[imprisonbush]

abbe wrote: "Any confirmation the White House has turned off their phone lines ?"

I called the White House and asked the receptionist to give me the President's office. The voice mail message said the line will open at 9 a.m. eastern standard time and gave the direct phone number as [phone]. Thus, try calling after 9 a.m. EST.

[infidel_us]

McCain, you're finished......too bad you're the only one who hasn't seen the writing on the wall.

[abbe7]

Any confirmation the White House has turned off their phone lines ?

[abbe7]

Patrick Fitzgerald:

We fully recognize that the Constitution provides that commutation decisions are a matter of presidential prerogative and we do not comment on the exercise of that prerogative.

We comment only on the statement in which the President termed the sentence imposed by the judge as %u201Cexcessive.%u201D The sentence in this case was imposed pursuant to the laws governing sentencings which occur every day throughout this country. In this case, an experienced federal judge considered extensive argument from the parties and then imposed a sentence consistent with the applicable laws. It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. That principle guided the judge during both the trial and the sentencing.
Although the President%u2019s decision eliminates Mr. Libby%u2019s sentence of imprisonment, Mr. Libby remains convicted by a jury of serious felonies, and we will continue to seek to preserve those convictions through the appeals process.

[abbe7]

Better stop using this space to talk about McCain,
who is basically irrelevant. Better us it for discussing the infamous Libby "half-pardon" (since the corresponding comment section doesn't work, neither the one called "Bush Turns Philosopher", as if ...), the real issue today.

[huskerarmy]

McCain took a gamble and lost. His strength came from his perceived independence... being somewhat of a "maverick." But when he decided to court the extreme right, going on that "fence mending" tour to Bob Jones University and to Kizz Jerry Falwell's behind, that perception was lost. Unfortunately for him, the fanatics on the Christian right didn't come around either and now he's left standing in the lurch... Better luck next time Big John.

[huskerarmy]

Isn't it blatantly obvious by now... "You take the fall, keep your mouth shut, and I assure you that you won't do any time." It's unbelievable howmuch more we will tolerate now than we would when "Tricky" Nixon was being impeached... Hey righty, this is not what we mean when we tell you to be more tolerant!

[donnie900]

"Uh! Uh! Uh!" I said. As if it were shakespearean. "Uh! Uh! Uh!" Again and again.

Oh, ***. Sorry folks. I keep mixing you guys up with my other blog.