There were some whispers in recent days that the White House was concerned that John McCain would return from his trip to Iraq and make some big speech about how we have to get the ‘f’ out. It didn’t happen. McCain took to the Senate floor today and gave another stay-the-course harangue. Perhaps not coincidentally, McCain suffered some bad news this morning.
McCain fired his campaign manager this morning, prompting his longtime chief strategist to resign. Soon after, McCain’s chief of staff of 18 years followed the two out the door.
Terry Nelson, an Iowan who had been a top operative in the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, was forced out, reportedly at the urging of Davis. With Nelson gone, John Weaver, McCain’s closest political adviser going back to the 2000 campaign and a sometimes Davis rival, tendered his resignation. Weaver’s move then spurred Mark Salter, perhaps the closest personally of any staffer to McCain and the co-author of all his books, to also resign his post as campaign COO.
As one McCain source put it, “It’s Rick Davis’s show now.”
I don’t know all the behind the scenes machinations, but I do know that McCain just lost the heart and soul of his operation. I don’t think it is a leap to conclude that McCain’s decision to stay-the-course was a source of contention within his campaign. And we can see which side won that debate.