"The downsizing of Senator McCain's presidential campaign is coming at an
opportune time for Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator who is likely to
jump into the race officially any day now and seeking to build a campaign staff
in the early primary states.
Struggling with a shortage of cash, Mr.
McCain's campaign announced last week that it was laying off dozens of staff
members, including about half of his paid team in Iowa and New Hampshire.
While there is no evidence of an outright pillaging of Mr. McCain's departed
aides, Republican sources in those states say Mr. Thompson's emerging campaign
is the likeliest landing spot. Aside from Mr. Thompson's obvious need for staff
— assuming he enters the race — the two are closely aligned ideologically, and
Mr. Thompson even endorsed Mr. McCain when he sought the White House in 2000"
First of all everyone in this very crowded field will gain from McCain falling out of the race. On the Republican side are people like Fred Thompson who will gain by being able to take over McCain's outside role, even though he is far from being an outsider. On the Democratic side, I think some of the more moderate candidates will gain votes from those who had thought about crossing the party line to vote for McCain because he has a strong bipartisan image and record. Who will gain the most of course is yet to be seen. Other than McCain the person who loses the most is the president, as this is widely seen as McCain being punished for sticking to close to Bush on key policy issues.
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