The McCain Plan for Survival

I know that political strategists make a lot of money advising candidates on how to peform in Presidential elections, but based on this Politico.com report, any person with common sense could have come up with this plan:

Their plan for survival:

-- Raise more. New leaders of the fundraising team added after the disappointing first quarter have instituted day-to-day accountability metrics and are rewarding and measuring top fundraisers with programs like President Bush's Rangers and Pioneers that have names like "McCain 200," for those who have pledged to raise $200,000.

-- Spend less. The staff has shrunk from a peak of about 165 to a few more than 100, split evenly between the headquarters in Arlington, Va., and the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. "The campaign was too big early on," one adviser said. "It was designed in a way that was geared toward a general election, not a primary."

-- Be smarter. The roster of consultants also has been pared. Many of the fundraising consultants had been on monthly retainers and now are paid when there's a finance event in their state or region.

And then get out on the road.

Well duh. John McCain could have asked me that on April 16 and I could have given him that advice for the price of a decent dinner and an autograph--a heck of a lot cheaper than he paid his high-priced and low-delivering consultants.