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Taming the unexpurgated candidate couldn't have been easy, but Schmidt's imposed message discipline has finally allowed McCain to drive a consistent message -- and control the agenda.
Candidates are reluctant to listen "handlers" -- and this is especially true of a candidate who has made it this far by breaking all the rules. It reminds me of a story I read about Ed Rollins, who, when managing Ross Perot's campaign, finally threw his hands in the air in frustration at the unorthodox candidate -- who would go on Larry King Live without bothering to inform his own staff -- and (paraphrasing here) said to Perot: I'm not trying to run a traditional campaign, I'm just trying to run a campaign...
In today's NYT, David Brooks does a good job of charting the recent evolution of McCain's campaign. There is no doubt that the candidate is less like the un-edited McCain of old (I can't remember the last time
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And as Brooks points out, the change in style has less to do with McCain's desire to run this sort of campaign than it does with the realization that -- in this media environment -- the old McCain style couldn't win. As they say, McCain didn't write the rules, he just abides by them. So I suppose we should refuse to be player-haters and get used to it ...
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