McCain's campaign changes direction

Michael Barone looks at the McCain campaign "implosion" and explains why he thinks it happened. He closes with this:

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Is McCain’s campaign over? Not necessarily. John Kerry shook up his campaign in 2003 and still won the Democratic nomination in 2004. Ronald Reagan fired his divisive campaign manager John Sears after winning the New Hampshire primary in 1980 and still won the Republican nomination and the general election. Still, the outlook isn’t promising. Carl Cameron of Fox News has reported that former McCain aides may join the still unofficial campaign of Fred Thompson (one of the few incumbent senators to support McCain in 2000).

My U.S. News colleague Paul Bedard reported this week that advisers (some of them presumably now ex-advisers) urged McCain to resign from the Senate to show his determination to win the presidency. This was a dreadful idea. Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano would get to name a successor, and McCain’s chances of winning the presidency seem very dim, while his zest for taking the lead on issues in the Senate seems undiminished. For evidence of that, read the speech on Iraq that McCain delivered Tuesday. You don’t have to be president to lead.

John Kerry benefited from the Dean implosion in 2004. The candidates ahead of McCain in this race have temperaments that are less likely to lead to implosion. McCain did not take off because he was distrusted by the base which did not like McCain-Feingold. The immigration legislation kind of put a cherry on top of that distrust and it will be difficult for him to recover. His greatest strength is his integrity and stand on the war. He should push both of those issues hard. If nothing else it will help him stand out from the wimps in the Senate.