John McCain's presidential campaign going down in flames

July 11, 2007

Washington, DC - Republican Senator John McCain's top political strategists stepped down Tuesday after McCain ripped them for the direction his presidential campaign is heading.

Republican Senator John McCain's top political strategists stepped down Tuesday after McCain ripped them for the direction his presidential campaign is heading.

Campaign Manager Terry Nelson and Chief Strategist John Weaver announced their departures in joint statements released by the campaign.

McCain met with Nelson and Weaver on Monday to discuss the campaign's direction which has come under fire for poor management and lackluster fund-raising.

"Apparently (McCain) didn't like the answers and (said) this morning he wanted changes," according to a source familiar with the internal deliberations.

Rick Davis, another McCain political advisor, will take over in a lead role for the campaign, sources told CNN. Another longtime aide, Mark Salter, will retain his title as senior advisor to McCain assisting with communications strategy and speech writing, but it will be in an unpaid capacity, a campaign source told CNN.