McCain Media
Team Quits

Sen. John McCain today lost the powerhouse advertising team that helped elect President Bush to the White House, with his two media advisers, Russ Schriefer and Stuart Stevens, resigning from the troubled campaign.

Schriefer and Stevens, whose ad-making prowess helped George Bush win the White House and stay there, had been part of the team of top Republican operatives that McCain assembled last year. But that team unraveled two weeks ago, when McCain fired his campaign manager amid a fundraising and spending crisis. "We'd really like to refer anything about this to the campaign," Schriefer said. "We did leave amicably and have the greatest respect for the Senator."

The departure of his media team, first reported by the Wall Street Journal Wednesday evening, is a fresh blow to a campaign reeling from bad news and struggling to compete with little money and staff. No official reaction yet from the McCain campaign spokeswoman.

-- Michael D. Shear