Free Republic

Ten days before the 2008 presidential election, as blame was beginning to be laid out for John McCain’s “likely defeat,” a top communications adviser to the campaign wrote a detailed strategy memo focused on how to preserve the reputation of another key adviser, Steve Schmidt, POLITICO has learned. *** The protective maneuver sheds more light on the final days of the 2008 campaign, a period of low morale marked by tensions between the Palin and McCain camps and the expectation of defeat. *** “Thankfully, and rightfully so, some members of the political punditry are already coming his defense (Rove, McKinnon,...

It isn't really clear if a candidate for Governor can suffer a "significant campaign setback" if they aren't even a candidate yet, but that is what has happened to ersatz Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay who, relatively new to the GOP, has had high profile roles with the Presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney (with whom she was once a co-worker) and Senator John McCain - with the confirmation that her top two most prominent advisors are no longer engaged professionally on Whitman's behalf. --snip-- For most of this year, Whitman has been rumored to be looking...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is installing a Republican campaign and public relations strategist as his new communications director, part of a broader staff shake-up. Adam Mendelsohn will succeed Rob Stutzman, an influential advisor who will leave government to open a private political consulting business and to work on Schwarzenegger's reelection. (snip) Mendelsohn comes from the DCI Group, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying and public affairs firm. He was press secretary to Bruce McPherson, then a Republican state senator, in McPherson's losing bid for the lieutenant governor's seat in 2002. McPherson is now secretary of state. Mendelsohn also worked for Republican...