Schmidt Takes Over McCain Camp's Day-To-Day Ops
Politico's Martin reports:
Steve Schmidt is taking over the day-to-day operation of John McCain’s campaign, according to multiple campaign sources.
At a staff meeting in the campaign's Arlington, Va., headquarters this morning, campaign manager Rick Davis made the announcement about Schmidt's new role.
Schmidt, a bald and barrel-chested operative known for his aggressive brand of political combat, responded by exhorting campaign aides with a speech that one staffer likened to a locker room pep talk out of the football movie "Rudy."
After the meeting, on a regularly scheduled conference call with McCain's 11 regional campaign managers, senior staff briefed the field aides about the move, explaining Davis would focus more on long-range tasks while Schmidt was taking an enhanced daily role, said an indivdual on the call.
McCain sources say Schmidt, who ran Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign and was a top communications aide in Bush-Cheney '04, will coordinate the campaign's daily pro-McCain and anti-Obama message but also will have an increased role in shaping most every facet of the organization including scheduling, policy, coalitions and surrogates.
Um, wasn't Schmidt already playing that role in the campaign in all but title?
No, apparently they had a cadaver in that role...