With despair rising even among many of John McCain\u2019s own advisors, influential Republicans inside and outside his campaign are engaged in an intense round of blame-casting and rear-covering\u2014-much of it virtually conceding that an Election Day rout is likely.<\/p>\n
[…]<\/p>\n
Top Republican officials have let it be known they are distressed about McCain\u2019s organization. Coordination between the McCain campaign and Republican National Committee, always uneven, is now nearly dysfunctional, with little high-level contact and intelligence-sharing between the two.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no communication,\u201d lamented one top Republican. \u201cIt drives you crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
At his Northern Virginia headquarters, some McCain aides are already speaking of the campaign in the past tense. Morale, even among some of the heartiest and most loyal staffers, has plummeted. And many past and current McCain advisors are warring with each other over who led the candidate astray.<\/p>\n
One well-connected Republican in the private sector was shocked to get calls and resumes in the past few days from what he said were senior McCain aides \u2013 a breach of custom for even the worst-off campaigns.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not an extraordinarily happy place to be right now,\u201d said one senior McCain aide. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna lie. It\u2019s just unfortunate.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The McCain campaign is in a bad spot, and I don’t envy them. It’s one thing to be Fritz Mondale in 1984 and know you don’t have a prayer — it makes it easy to throw in the towel. And it’s another to be John Kerry in 2004, and fight to the finish in a race too close to call — it’s easy to fight when you think you can win.<\/p>\n
But the McCain campaign is just close enough to see how maybe, if everything fell just right, then possibly it could happen for them. Sure, it’s a one-in-a-million shot, but it’s the presidency; you don’t give up on that unless it’s lost. Still…there’s a 999,999 in a million chance that you’re screwed. And that makes it hard to get up in the morning and fight hard for glory, knowing that you’re probably going to lose, but not being so certain that you can be liberated from the fear of losing.<\/p>\n
I don’t envy them at all. Still, I do enjoy the Schadenfreude<\/i> of it. No doubt, there will be losing days for the Democrats in future years — the pendulum always swings back, folks — but for now, let’s enjoy the sweet tears of unfathomable sadness.<\/p>\n