July 18, 2007

McCain To Reassure Lawmakers On Campaign

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will meet with congressional supporters today to assure them he is staying in the presidential race and to seek their help in re-evaluating his campaign strategy.

McCain will stress that his continued presence in the race is "not a question," campaign spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said today, despite the departures of his campaign manager and other top aides and the disclosure in campaign finance reports that he is low on funds.

Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott said he and other supporters in the Senate will meet with McCain "off campus" to discuss the best way for the candidate to move forward. "We just need to hear directly from John and from his campaign manager, Rick Davis, on what the plans are and how we can be helpful," Lott said.

The meeting and other efforts to reach out to GOP colleagues in the House and Senate come at a key time for the candidate who was once viewed as the front-runner for the Republican nomination. News of last week's high-level staff departures and the bleak stories about the campaign's money troubles might be causing some lawmakers to have second thoughts about their decisions to endorse McCain, so words of reassurance from the candidate himself might buy him some time. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., said McCain's effort to try to keep his congressional supporters on board on the same day that the lengthy Senate debate required his presence on the Senate floor through the night "doesn't surprise me because he's a fighter."

Lott suggested that keeping a low profile for a while might benefit McCain, while allowing journalists to focus on other Republican candidates and their potential shortcomings.

"Maybe if John gets out of the line of fire for a little while, that'll be OK," Lott said.

McCain, the GOP floor manager for the FY08 defense authorization bill that kept the Senate in session all night, appeared to adapt that strategy this morning. "I'm not going to talk about my campaign any more," he said in a Capitol hallway. "I'm finished talking about it. I talked about it for two weeks. I will not discuss it or any aspect of it. Thank you." Buchanan said McCain was focusing on a handful of states whose primaries or caucuses will be held early in the process. She said he campaigned in New Hampshire last week, was in California Monday and will travel to Iowa this weekend and to Michigan next week.

-BEN SCHNEIDER, CongressDaily

Posted at 4:12 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Congress, John McCain, Republicans, Senate, WH 2008
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