McCain's Implosion

Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen of Politico.comhave a sort of "inside" view of the departure of McCain's top staff.

The behind-the-scenes implosion of the relationship between the two operatives and their boss mirrored an external unraveling of the McCain campaign in recent weeks that many Republicans initially had thought was survivable. But Tuesday's exodus brought a funereal air to a campaign that was once viewed as an inevitable road to the GOP nomination for McCain. Meanwhile, Mark Salter, the campaign's senior adviser and formerly McCain's longtime chief of staff and the co-author of his books, switched to an advisory role.

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The downward arc of the McCain campaign had been deepening for months. A day after Nelson tried to resign, Weaver held a grim conference call to inform reporters that the campaign had just $2 million left in the bank and was laying off numerous staffers to save cash.

It turned out that the layoffs amounted to nearly half the staff, and a bloated payroll of $1.6 million a month had been cut in half. During the conference call, Nelson said that he also had volunteered to work without pay and swore: "We feel confident."

But McCain did not. He was still dissatisfied with his struggling campaign, and told Nelson and Weaver before he left for a Fourth of July trip to Iraq that he "still wasn't real comfortable about the Plan B for going ahead," according to one McCain adviser. While overseas, McCain complained to Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolinian who is among his closest confidants, about how things were going.

"He was concerned about how quickly the money was being spent and how overstaffed he was," said a longtime McCain backer who was briefed on the conversation. McCain expressed some wonder that the campaign could have raised $24 million and burned through $22 million of it.

Returning from Iraq Friday, McCain indicated to Nelson and Weaver that "he still wasn't comfortable," said the McCain adviser. McCain's mind was made up. Someone had to be held accountable for a campaign with Cadillac ambitions and a Corolla budget, and he thought things were still going down the wrong track, according to witnesses.

I have often wondered at the incompetence it takes to raise a healthy sum and spend it all with very little to show for it.