A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

For the longest time, I thought that John McCain would be the Republican nominee for President. Traditionally, the Republican nominee is one who fought for the nomination in the past and came close to getting it--as McCain did in 2000. He was a visible and public figure throughout the Bush Presidency and he entered the nomination race with one of the higher name recognition stats of any of the major Presidential candidates.

But once again, we see that money is the mother's milk of politics. And John McCain's answer to the question "Got Money?" is "No."

Republican John McCain reorganized his campaign Monday, cutting staff in every department as he raised just $11.2 million in the last three months and reported an abysmal $2 million cash on hand for his presidential bid.

"We confronted reality and we dealt with it in the best way that we could so that we could move forward with this campaign focused on winning our primaries in the early states," said Terry Nelson, McCain's campaign manager.

Once considered the front-runner for the GOP nomination, McCain trails top Republican rivals in money and polls.

More than 50 staffers, and perhaps as many as 80 to 100, were being let go, and senior aides will be subject to pay cuts as the Arizona senator bows to six months of subpar fundraising, according to officials with knowledge of the details of the shake up. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the campaign would not publicly discuss details of the restructuring.

McCain's tally in the second financial quarter, which ended Saturday, is expected to trail those of Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, who have not yet released their totals. In the first quarter, McCain came in third and raised just $13.6 million.

Officials said the fundamental leadership of the campaign will not change; Nelson, a veteran of President Bush's winning 2004 campaign, will remain campaign manager but said he would volunteer his time instead of drawing a salary for the next few months.

At its peak, McCain's payroll covered 150 staffers; this is the second round of layoffs.

The campaign said it was seriously considering taking public matching funds, which Nelson said would amount to about $6 million. That would be a major shift in strategy for McCain and could tie the campaign's hands by limiting the amount of money it can spend in individual states.

Nelson said the campaign made "incorrect assumptions" about its fundraising ability.

"At one point, we believed that we would raise over $100 million during this calendar year, and we constructed a campaign that was based on that assumption," Nelson said. That, he said, proved to be wrong.

Tell us about it.

We are still a long way from the caucuses and primaries. But since the caucuses and primaries are bunched so close together at the beginning of 2008, they will be settled quite quickly. McCain's lack of funds kills him in seeking to blitz Iowa and New Hampshire with ads and appearances to compete with a surprisingly effective Mitt Romney, or with Rudy Giuliani and the looming presence of Fred Thompson. And since voters can smell the lingering scent of death about a campaign, they may be even less inclined after these latest fundraising numbers to give money to John McCain.

There was talk a couple weeks ago about McCain dropping out. I dismissed it. I am not sure I should have.