McCain Overhauls His Campaign
Sen. John McCain is overhauling his presidential campaign after a disappointing first-quarter fundraising effort and a contentious visit to Iraq. The Arizona Republican is shaking up his fundraising operation and plans a major speech on Iraq next week.
"We've been very busy in the Senate on Iraq and other issues," McCain said. "But also, we haven't done a good enough job."
The New York Times reports that McCain is revamping his fundraising operation by adopting the sort of "big donor" program developed by his 2000 campaign rival, President Bush. McCain reported raising $12.5 million in the first quarter of 2007, well behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's $23 million. He also trailed former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who raised $15 million.
The 2008 electoral season is likely to be a lot shorter than past campaigns, reports CBS News White House correspondent Bill Plante. Twenty-eight states are expected to hold their primaries or caucuses on or before Feb. 5, compared with only nine by the same date in 2004.
McCain's campaign also announced Wednesday that the senator will make his candidacy official later this month with an announcement tour from April 25-27 through New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa and Arizona.
The Arizona senator will speak next week at the Virginia Military Institute. His campaign said the speech, scheduled for April 11 at Lexington, Va., school, would be the first of three policy addresses McCain will make in April.
He will follow the Iraq speech with an address about taxes, trade and spending on April 16 in Memphis, Tenn., and he will speak about other domestic priorities on April 23, his campaign said.
Traveling this week in Iraq, McCain said a U.S.-Iraqi security plan has been working, citing a recent drop in execution-style sectarian killings, the establishment of security posts throughout Baghdad and Sunni tribal efforts against al Qaeda in the western Anbar province.
"These and other indicators are reason for cautious, very cautious optimism about the effects of the new strategy," McCain said.
McCain voted against a proposed troop withdrawal timeline last month, when the Senate called for most U.S. combat troops to be out of Iraq by March 31, 2008.