Richard Starr is even more right than he probably realizes in this post. The book review he cites to describe McCain’s “guardian” characteristics puts it this way: “‘Guardians’ are modern versions of the raiders, warriors, and hunters who once made their livings through sorties into unknown or hostile territories.” The McCain campaign (and some of the reporters covering it) talk about the effort as “the McCain pirate ship.” There are conflicting stories about who coined the phrase. McCain’s New Hampshire Vice Chair is sometimes mentioned as it’s originator. But Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to McCain who worked previously for Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dick Cheney, is a more likely source. Schmidt recently finished reading Empire of Blue Water, a book about the famous Captain Morgan. Mitt Romney’s campaign, the thinking goes, runs with the precision of a venture capital firm. He is well-manicured, his staff is well-dressed, his campaign is well-ordered, well-organized, and well-funded. Romney’s access to the press is occasional and tightly monitored. The McCain campaign operates on an ad-hoc basis. Because McCain has been playing catch-up since this summer, it has no choice. As soon as a dollar is raised, it is spent (though Florida should ease the cash crunch a bit). There is little paid staff – some of the senior advisers on the road with McCain have not collected a paycheck for seven months – and the campaign’s organization in Super Tuesday states is still being pieced together – sometimes hours before McCain is scheduled to arrive. When Steve “Lobot” Schmidt arrived at the bar Tuesday night wearing a grey, pinstriped suit, his attire triggered several comments and some friendly mockery. Schmidt’s defense – it was the only thing he had left that was clean – did little to diminish the badinage.
