McCAIN IS STILL "RUNNING" BUT HIS CAMPAIGN HAS FOLDED

Associated Press say's McCain's shaking up his staff, which is basically a press release. The 3 top officials of McCain's campaign all quit on him today-- campaign manager Terry Nelson, chief strategist John Weaver and chief of staff/ghost writer Mark Salter. Now the whole camp is in an uproar with McCain claiming-- absurdly--  that he fired them and the three of them just chuckling sadly and wishing him well.

Apparently the eruption happened over McCain's inability to accept any version of reality regarding Iraq. He isn't able to move past "stay the course" and the psychotic visions he and Joe Lieberman have conjured up with Cheney. The staffers-- like 75% of Americans-- had had enough and didn't want to be part of an accelorating death spiral with someone unwilling to do what needed to be done to pull out of it.

Far right Republicans are trying to claim the whole thing was about immigration reform, which never entered into it at all. His latest warmongering speech on the Senate floor today-- a last ditch effort to defend Bush's escalation agenda-- was the last straw for people inside the campaign that had long grown tired of McCain's inability to face reality. A left behind, one of the most sycophantic of McCain's longtime aides, Rick Davis, will run what's left of a "campaign" that has been unable to compete in the fundraising sphere and had to fire over 50 employees last week. The campaign has less than $2 million on hand. Ron Paul has more. Now the question remains, will McCain just give up politics completely and retire and grow more senile in private or will be try to hang on in the Senate.


UPDATE: THE JANITOR AT McCAIN'S CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS DID NOT-- WE REPEAT: DID NOT-- RESIGN, AT LEAST NOT AS OF 5:39pm, PT

Reed Galen is the Deputy Campaign Manager and he did resign today. And the Political Director, Rob Jesmer, also resigned But, like the 3 other people who left the sinking sunk ship today, these were not important positions and Crazy Ole' McCain insists he's staying in the race. "No, no, no, no,” Mr. McCain said. “I’d describe the campaign as going well. I’m very happy with it. People are free to make their own assessments. I think we’re doing fine.”

When's the last time anyone accused John McCain of being in touch with reality? Or, as one Beltway wag put it today, next Mc will be leaving the campaign and no one will be left but Cain.


7pm UPDATE: JANITOR STILL IN PLACE, UNIMPORTANT FINANCE DIRECTOR QUITS

McCain may say he thinks everything's all hunky-dory but Mary Kate Johnson, his finance director, just followed the rest of the senior management of his disastrous campaign overboard. She had just been hired after the former finance director was unable to raise enough money to keep him competitive with the front ranking candidates.


UPDATE: NO ONE QUIT OVERNIGHT BUT...

McCain's Iowa Campaign Director, Jon Seaton, is about to. How many of the folks deserting McCain will show up on Freddy Thompson's payroll when the slick Republican lobbyist finally makes it "official" next month?


ONE GUY WHO IS DEFINITELY FIRED-- THE GAY WARDROBE MISTRESS
Now it surfaces why McCain fired his whole staff this week. Even though his best pal in the Senate is Lindsey Graham, McCain just could not go one more day wearing any more gay sweaters. At least Lindsey never tells him how to dress or do his hair!


IOWA UPDATE: HELP WANTED! STAT!

It's easier to keep track of the people who have been left behind that to keep count of all the people jumping overborard from McCain's sinking ship of a campaign Today, just as reports hit the wire services that McCain has been breaking campaign laws, two more defections, both in crucial Iowa, where he is no longer considered a viable candidate. Republicans back in Arizona are already gearing up to retire him from politics altogether.