Adviser energizes McCain campaign

ST. PAUL, Minn. — It was what aides to Sen. John McCain describe as probably the worst night of his campaign. In June, after Sen. Barack Obama locked up the Democratic nomination before a cheering sea of faces on national television, McCain countered with a lackluster speech in a half-empty hall, posed in front of a pea-green screen that became fodder for late-night comedy.

Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to McCain and a veteran of President Bush's 2004 campaign, could barely hide his fury as he announced — to anyone who would listen — that he would make certain the McCain campaign would never again embarrass McCain.

"Fun Steve is dead," Schmidt said.

In the three months since that night in June, the McCain organization has become a campaign transformed: an elbows-out, risk-taking, disciplined machine that was on display last week at the convention that nominated McCain.

The catalyst has largely been Schmidt, 37, a veteran of the winning 2002 congressional and 2004 presidential campaigns, where he worked closely with Karl Rove, then Bush's senior strategist.

Schmidt's stamp on this year's campaign was evident from the opening day of this past week's Republican convention to McCain's acceptance speech Thursday night. It was reflected in the tone of the scathing prime-time speeches, all of which Schmidt reviewed and approved, and some of which were criticized as stretching the truth.

It was evident in the campaign's attacks on news organizations as they examined the extent to which McCain had vetted Gov. Sarah Palin, of Alaska, when he chose her as his running mate and reported on the pregnancy of her teenage daughter.

The disclosures were released just as Hurricane Gustav was hitting shore, in a bit of news management that is one hallmark of Schmidt's style.

It also could be seen in the ubiquitous slogan "Country First" — as in, McCain puts it there, Obama does not.

Operational changes

The changes in McCain's operation were noted approvingly by Republican leaders, who once despaired at McCain's chances against Obama.

"It's steadily improving, in terms of performance, organization, offense," said Fergus Cullen, the New Hampshire chairman. "There were definitely early bumps, and now things are getting accomplished."

Rove said Schmidt's increased authority — which came about after what amounted to a coup by Schmidt and other McCain aides with ties to the 2004 campaign, that gave him equal status with the campaign manager, Rick Davis — has been the best thing to have happened to McCain.

"Since the elevation of Schmidt, and his new responsibilities, he's given the campaign a new focus and energy and drive that's been very impressive," Rove said. "They've had a much better July and August than April and May."

Schmidt declined a request for an interview.

The campaign's new tone has been jarring to some veterans of McCain's previous presidential run who worry that the campaign exudes a cynicism that undercuts the senator's old reputation for "straight talk" and a more elevated style of politicking.

On a number of occasions, McCain's campaign advertisements have been described by campaign-watchdog organizations as false or misleading, particularly those attacking Obama on tax votes.

And the level of aggressiveness and risk-taking advocated by the hard-charging Schmidt leads to misses as well as hits; it stands in contrast to the more orderly, controlled campaign they are facing.

"It's quite different, often strikingly so, sometimes alarmingly so," Todd Harris, who was an adviser to McCain's 2000 campaign, said of the tone compared with the tone then. "But it's important to realize that we lost in 2000, so I'm not sure we're in any position to give lectures about how to effectively win a national election with John McCain."

It was just that sort of thinking that led McCain to give Schmidt, and his street-brawling style of politics, such prominence.

His role for Bush in 2004 was running the war room — orchestrating often savage attacks on opponents, responding instantly to breaking news, digging up damaging information and pushing back on any criticism — and that shoot-first mentality infuses the culture of the retooled McCain campaign.

"He brings a single-minded intensity and focus to the campaigns he's involved in," said Howard Wolfson, who oversaw the war room of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as an adviser in her presidential campaign. "He's the guy who knows the value of waking up every day and knowing what you are going to say at end of the day about your candidate and your opponent."

Altered environment

Schmidt is considered by members of both parties to have a superior sense of a greatly altered news-media environment, caused by the proliferation of political Web sites and blogs, providing all different ways of getting out information.

This new environment, Schmidt has told friends, is easily manipulated because of round-the-clock thirst for news, increased competition, lowered standards and hunger for the outrageous.

It was Schmidt who pressed for the campaign to include Britney Spears and Paris Hilton in advertisements attacking Obama, aides said.

It was Schmidt, they said, who pushed to drive blogs and other media organizations to present Obama's outdoor convention setting as a pretentious temple by circulating photographs of columns and sending out a news release calling it the "Temple of Obama."

"He can recognize the absurdity of politics, and is an occasional practitioner," said Brian Jones, who worked with Schmidt on the Bush campaign and, for a time, on the McCain campaign. "He understands how people relate to politics in a real tactile way. Why would this guy build a stage set that looks like a Temple of Zeus?"

Schmidt gave the war room a more central place in McCain's campaign, streamlining its decision-making so only a few key aides decide what is worthy of response and, more important in Schmidt's view, what presents an opportunity to attack Obama as elite, out of touch and lacking substance.

Junior aides work shifts across 24 hours, scouring news outlets for tidbits with the potential to embarrass Obama through circulation to bloggers, The Drudge Report, cable news and newspapers.

But speed can lead to mistakes. Three months after Schmidt's "Fun Steve is dead" declaration, there was McCain giving his acceptance speech at the convention on Thursday night. His backdrop? A shimmering screen of green, until it was switched to a more dignified blue.