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U.S. Sen. John McCain wrote the rules on dark money when he sponsored campaign finance reform, also known as the McCain-Feingold Act. Now he’s using millions of dollars in dark money in a bid to hold on to his tightly contested Arizona seat. An investigation into the various PACs supporting McCain brought to light some stunning conclusions. First, the vast majority of McCain campaign donations are not from the Arizonans he represents but from people and corporations outside of Arizona with a vested interest in McCain’s continued support and votes for their interests. Second, several of the PACs supporting McCain...

Just off the CNN Political Ticker: Sarah Palin is remaining silent about a sharp jab directed at her Friday by former John McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt, who predicted that a potential Palin presidential bid in 2012 would be "catastrophic." A spokeswoman for the former Alaska governor said Palin is holding her fire until her new book is released next month. "The governor will write about all of this in her book," Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said in an e-mail, referring to the internal fighting that marred the final weeks of McCain's president bid. "There will be plenty of time...

It appears the Vainly Unfair magazine hit piece, the product of a collaboration between Obama-supporting liberal editor Todd Purdum and a few traitors within the McCain campaign organization, is backfiring. In the uproar that has arisen in the wake of the smear job, some former McCain staffers are standing up to defend their 2008 vice presidential candidate, and, unlike the anonymous anti-Palin leakers quoted in the politically-motivated article, those speaking out in favor of Sarah Palin aren't afraid to let their names be known: "She's a fine person, with unique and unteachable political skills," said Mark Salter, a senior adviser...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Some of Sarah Palin's former campaign aides are frustrated with the Alaska governor for remarking in a lengthy, freewheeling speech that she had refused to pray with them before last October's vice presidential debate. Palin told the story in a speech to a GOP dinner in Alaska last Friday. "So I'm looking around for somebody to pray with, I just need maybe a little help, maybe a little extra," she said of the moments before the debate. "And the McCain campaign, love 'em, you know, they're a lot of people around me, but nobody I could find...

One of the more disconcerting leaks about Gov. Sarah Palin turned out to be true. Matt Lauer interviewed Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska for “Today” on NBC. She also spoke with Greta Van Susteren of Fox News. Ms. Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, arrived in Phoenix, Ariz., on election night hoping to deliver her own concession speech. “It was a great speech,” Ms. Palin told Matt Lauer on the “Today” show on Tuesday. Aides to her running mate, Senator John McCain, told her it was not customary for the No. 2 to speak, she said. “But, you know, I thought,...

The general rule among returning Las Vegas vacationers is “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” The same is true for professional political staffers returning from life on the campaign trail. Sure you re-hash certain particularly amusing or dramatic anecdotes with friends over a few beers, but you don’t purposefully blab to the national media in an effort to sandbag your candidate. Not surprisingly, the McCain campaign doesn’t want to abide by the unspoken, but widely understood, rules of political protocol. Certain campaign “insiders” are, and have been, engaged in an effort to throw Governor Sarah Palin under the bus...

John McCain has read the riot act to members of his own campaign staff for their defeatist attitude, making clear that they must join him in fighting all out to win the presidential election. Mr McCain has now rolled out a defiant new stump speech in Colorado, where he roused a 5,000 strong crowd with a call to arms, making clear that if he is to go down, he will go down fighting.

Palin Goes 'Rogue'? By Robert Stacy McCain on 10.25.08 @ 12:53PM And not a moment too soon: Four Republicans close to Palin said she has decided increasingly to disregard the advice of the former Bush aides tasked to handle her, creating occasionally tense situations as she travels the country with them. Those Palin supporters, inside the campaign and out, said Palin blames her handlers for a botched rollout and a tarnished public image — even as others in McCain's camp blame the pick of the relatively inexperienced Alaska governor, and her public performance, for McCain's decline. "She's lost confidence in...

I am getting a little annoyed with all these Freepers who keep posting about: 1) The Supposed RNC 150 + millions and Rove's 527 money. Where is it? 2) All the October scandals that will hit Obama. Where are they? Seriously, and don't write "til the white of their eyes" please, it's two weeks til the election and many, many people are voting early in person or via absentee ballot. I personally don't think: 1) There is any RNC money 2) Any grand McCain plan 3) Any Obama scandals out there waiting to drop This doesn't mean McCain is going...

RUSH: Bill Kristol, writing today an op-ed in the New York Times, says it's time for McCain to fire his campaign. He says that what McCain needs to do is get rid of the whole campaign and start over these last three weeks and make the case for "a broadly centrist conservatism." Now, you know, Bill Kristol and I know each other and I've been a friend of Bill Kristol for a number of years. Bill Kristol, however, was one of the early supporters of Senator McCain back in the 2000 presidential race; and, of course, I was not. Moving...

New McCain Ad: 'Ayers' Politics | Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 9:31:18 am PST UPDATE at 10/9/08 10:07:48 am: The leftists are playing games at YouTube again. This video—from the campaign of a presidential candidate!—has now been flagged as “inappropriate” and you need to confirm your birth date before viewing. Amazing.

"..removed from her post Saturday, after she said the Democratic Party made black people "dependent on the government." "I'm very much afraid that the Democratic Party is going to do the same thing that they did with the African-American culture and make them all dependent on the government and we don't want that," she said.

The John McCain campaign ... installed Steve Schmidt, until now an ultraintense counselor to the campaign, as its operations manager. Mr. Schmidt has a reputation for ruthless efficiency, a take-no-prisoners campaign style and the ability to inspire confidence in subordinates. Karl Rove once dubbed him "The Bullet," a reference to both the shape of his shaved head and his lethal impact when deployed against opponents. Starting with a stint on Capitol Hill as communications director for the House Republican campaign effort, the 37-year-old Mr. Schmidt has had a meteoric rise in politics. He became a counselor to Vice President Dick...

For reasons of financial necessity, personal preference and plain politics, John McCain is gearing up to run one of the least traditional presidential campaigns in recent history. The problem is that even prominent strategists within McCain’s own party wonder if his unorthodox strategy will work. Facing the prospect of competing against a Democrat who is on track to shatter every fundraising record — and confronted by his own inability to rake in large bundles of cash — McCain and his key advisers have largely been forced into devising a three-pronged strategy that they hope can turn their general election weaknesses...

CNN) -- A day after four of Sen. John McCain's top political strategists stepped down, the co-chairman of his Florida campaign was arrested Wednesday for allegedly offering an undercover police officer money for a sex act, Titusville police said. Florida state Rep. Bob Allen faces charges of solicitation for prostitution after he was arrested in a Titusville city park that had been under surveillance, police said. He allegedly offered an undercover police officer $20 for the unspecified act. His attorney, Philip Lupo of Titusville, said the charge was a second-degree misdemeanor. Allen told CNN affiliate WFTV the incident was "a...