And on the topic who has really benefited from the Scooter commutation:
In a conference call with reporters, campaign manager Terry Nelson and senior adviser John Weaver insisted that a combination of massive staff and salary cuts and a renewed focus on face-to-face “retail” politics could pave the way for an upset in early primary states. On the call, Nelson admitted that, “at one point, we believed we’d raise over $100 million in this calendar year,” before dryly adding, “we now believe that assumption was incorrect.”
If McCain decides to take matching funds, one observer aligned with a rival campaign told me, “It’ll be a suicide pact.” For their part, McCain’s staff wants to stay in it until the bitter end, if it means risking suicide. They just hate Mitt Romney that much…
