The model here is very different than the campaign structure built by Ken Mehlman and Karl Rove in 2004. Rove and Mehlman and a small roundtable of headquarters-based aides ran the entire show from Arlington, VA. Power and decision-making were centralized.
There is no Rove-like figure hovering over the McCain campaign, and Davis, by his own admission, does not intend to become one. Still, the funnel of power begins and ends with Davis, who is setting himself up to be the lightening rod for complaints and criticism if his organization does not work.
Time will tell if this decentralized model works, or not. I've always believed that, unlike nations, campaigns are best-run as dictatorships. But it was made clear last year that McCain is not well-suited for the Bush top-down campaign paradigm. Who knows? Maybe everyone will be copying this model in the future ...
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