2 Top McCain Campaign Aides Quit

U.S. Sen. John McCain’s two top campaign aides quit Tuesday as the Arizona Republican’s bid for the presidency continued to flag.

Both Terry Nelson, the campaign manager, and John Weaver, the chief strategist, issued brief statements praising McCain. Weaver, one of McCain’s closest advisers for many years, called the senator the one person equipped to serve as our nation’s chief executive and deal with the challenges we face.

But the Washington Post said sources in the campaign said that the resignations followed a blow-up by the hot-tempered McCain, who reportedly accused his aides of mismanaging strategy and finances. Fundraising has fallen far short of the campaign’s goals, and McCain recently laid off half his staff.

Rick Davis, the campaign’s chief executive officer, was expected to take over day-to-day management of McCain 2008, sources told the Post.

McCain is scheduled to travel to New Hampshire this weekend to give a major speech on the Iraq War.