Changes Atop The McCain Campaign

There have been some changes at the top of John McCain's presidential campaign, Politico's Jonathan Martin reports, with senior advisor Steve Schmidt taking over day-to-day operations and campaign manager Rick Davis focusing on long-range planning.

Schmidt, a veteran GOP operative, will be in charge of coordinating the campaign's daily message, Politico reports, and will also "have an increased role in shaping most every facet of the organization including scheduling, policy, coalitions and surrogates." Davis will concentrate on big-picture issues such as the GOP convention planning, the vice presidential selection and general strategy, according to Martin.

The moves come amid sharp criticism among some Republicans about the operations and concerns that the campaign has not done enough to begin laying the groundwork for the general election.