Washington – 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 in 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 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 the details.
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 $13.6 million.
Officials said the fundamental leadership of the campaign will not change.
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.
