Inside McCain's Campaign: A Mess Of Festering Feuds

New York Times:

Senator John McCain's campaigns have long been defined by internal squabbling and power plays, zigzagging lines of command and a penchant by the candidate for consulting with former advisers without alerting current ones, always a recipe for disquiet.

After a period of relative calm on that score, it is becoming clear that his campaign is once again a swirl of competing spheres of influence, clusters of friends, consultants and media advisers who represent a matrix of clashing ambitions and festering feuds. The cast includes the surviving members of Mr. McCain's 2000 campaign, led by Rick Davis and Mark Salter; a new camp out of the world of Karl Rove, led by the recently ascendant Steve Schmidt; and on the periphery, the ever-present Mike Murphy, Mr. McCain's strategist in the 2000 presidential race who has been dispensing advice to the candidate to the annoyance of the other camps, and is the subject of intensifying rumors in Republican circles that he is about to re-enter the campaign.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[DaOne]

Cindy just stand there and look bored..................Mission Accomplished!

[zendem1]

I'm not a psychologist or body language expert, but that woman never looks like she's having a very good time. She's got all the presence of a fern.

[kellygrrrl]

she looks like she's zoned on something

[olivia]

She reminds me of Barbara Bush. You know, appalled that as First Lady she will have to do something that is kind of like work. Barbara was appalled that she was offered a secretary after leaving the White House. When reminded that even Rosalyn Carter still spends a ton of money on postage, Babs' response was "You mean I'm going to have to work?"

[VSamuels]

But, there are other Americans who only see a nice, comfortable and safe white couple who they think and believe represents them as white people. McCain overall advantage is that he is the familar and standard pattern of Presidents since George Washington. For this reason, I do not believe the corporate media's line that he is the 'underdog.' The 'underdog' is Obama, a black man who resides in a nation still struggling with racial equality; that only franchised persons looking like him some 40 years or so earlier.

The corporate media has and is misleading folks in their constant chattering about Obama being the frontrunner, because for one thing they are very poor at dealing with race and the reality of some white Americans who are solely going to base their decision on skin color. And, while many blacks folks will support Obama, these same black voters have been voting consistently for the white male candidate since JFK, a fact that those who argue black folks are 'racist' seem to miss. It is the ole DixieCrat voter who has voted along skin color, as no blacks were on the ballot, and it will be he and or she who will turn this election this year.

If Obama wants to push back on this falsehood, he has a difficult box to deal from, as his critics would accuse him of race baiting, when his suggestion would be right on the mark.

[Mygirl]

Yeah, I have mentioned this to several of my friends. She is really scary; almost robotic.

[MizLiz]

My husband almost spilled his drink when he saw her cover photo on Newsweek. Now THAT was scary. Sort of like the woman with the chain saw in horror movies.

[olivia]

She looks over medicated, exactly like Laura.

[firewmn]

Malibu Cindy...

[findingthetruth]

The GOP is depending on their "superhero", Rove, to come in and clean things up.

[kellygrrrl]

my, CindyLou looks a little bit spaced out in that photo

sure hope she's not ... you know

[IowaKid]

Wink Wink hear you loud and clear..... LOL

[MizLiz]

Probably needs a good dose of antidepressants just to get up in the morning...and I can say that, because I do too.

[Tropiholic]

mc braindead is embarrassing to watch, please we cannot go through this again!~

[zendem1]

I'd pay to watch the rats feeding on each other. GOP campaigns are usually, at least on the outside, very well-oiled machines. Much like nazi panzer divisions. However, on the inside, they're very "me, me me"--lots of internal backstabbing and jockeying for position. For the staffers, it;s all about what kind of gig you're going to get handed once you get the idiot elected. They'll say or do anything to achieve that end.

[Tommygun264]

And that's just between Grampy and the trollop.

[NickNas]

HMMMM Sound Familiar?? Just another person who wants to run the World but can't run their own small organization. If all Americans were business owners and we were interviewing the the Manager it would be clear but since we have this " My team no matter what". Emotion Based system a candidate who currently presides over a group in turmoil, conflict and bittterness is supported by people who would not hire him to run a Gas Station.

The Repubs sounded off DAILY about Hillarys Camp... I wonder how they will spin this now to be a GOOD thing since it is their boy now.

By the Way.........................ALL you ever hear is Obamas Camp is how smooth it runs and how happy his people are to work so hard.

[kjdwyer]

What is it they say about "too many cooks"?

In this case, when your stew ingredients are nothing but snake oil and horseshit, you're kind of screwed from the get-go.

Sooooooooooo glad to see that Karl Rove has landed on his feet. What would Republican politics be without him? They might actually have to develop a platform of actual ideas and solutions instead of their usual misinformation and distraction. Perish the thought.

[kay]

Why isn't there any reporting on John McCain's decision to skirt the campaign finance rules he wrote?

He runs on this, and has for years. It's the entire basis of his claims of "integrity".

He's laundering campaign money through state organizations.

Is it because the entire media bought his claims that he would be abiding by spending limits? It isn't true. Might be time to correct the record.