July 02, 2007
McCain Camp 'Restructuring' As Fundraising Stagnates
It seems political reporters have been hungrily awaiting the chance to write an obituary for the John McCain presidential campaign, which a 2:00 EDT conference call with reporters made clear. Participants on the call asked questions that all seemed to have a just-how-bad-is-it feel to them.
Campaign manager Terry Nelson launched into his debriefing on the defensive, telling reporters that the campaign is facing "a number of challenges" and is stuck in an environment that is particularly hostile to Republicans right now.
He explained that, as many a political observer has decreed in the past year, the campaign assumed it would require $100 million to secure the party's nomination, but that's no longer what the team believes. (If fundraising rates continue to produce numbers similar to what they have the last two quarters, only Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet those benchmarks.) Nelson said the campaign was now "seriously considering accepting public matching funds."
He also explained that the campaign was being restructured as of today in a way that affects every department. AP reported just prior to the call that 50 staffers have been dismissed. Nelson declined to give personnel numbers but confirmed that senior staff would take pay cuts, and that he himself would not be on the payroll for the time being.
His rationale was that these actions were necessary in order to "effectively communicate" the campaign's message.
The numbers? $11.2 million raised this quarter, $2 million left on hand (compared with $5 million at the close of the first quarter), and a total of 72,000 donors -- not yet broken down by quarter.
A couple of interesting points to note: After one question, it was explained that some of the restructuring decisions were "necessary to be competitive throughout the summer." Although McCain last week said it was "ridiculous" to suggest that he'd consider dropping out of the race this year, the campaign may now be taking a wait-and-see approach. The London Times reported that McCain could withdraw as early as September.
Also, whereas many of the Democrats continue to stress that their campaigns "are about you" -- the voters -- Nelson twice emphasized that this campaign was about McCain himself -- his past leadership and readiness to be president.
The campaign is definitely right about one thing: The environment is not to their liking. Although McCain has become more vocal in his criticism of President Bush's management skills, he does stand with him on immigration policy and the war in Iraq. Neither were factors at the second quarter of 1999, when the Bush team (under Nelson's leadership) had pulled in nearly $36 million though they hadn't started raising funds until the end of the first quarter.
Posted at 3:55 PM
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Campaigns, John McCain, Republicans, WH 2008
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