WASHINGTON - Frustrations inside John McCain's camp boiled over on the eve of tonight's presidential debate as the candidate's brother unleashed an e-mail blasting the campaign's "counter-productive" strategy.
"Let John McCain be John McCain," wrote Joe McCain in a missive sent out shortly before midnight Monday. "Make ads that show John not as crank and curmudgeon but as a great leader for his time."
McCain's younger brother was sharply critical of unnamed top campaign officials who "so tightly 'control the message' " that they are preventing reporters from speaking with those, like himself, who know the candidate best. His complaint echoed those of other McCain intimates who have chafed for months at orders not to speak with the news media without advance permission from the campaign.
The younger McCain called this news management strategy "counter-intuitive, counter-experiential, and counter-productive" because it conflicts with his brother's reputation for openness. The clampdown "has gradually bled away all the good will that this great man had from the press," he wrote.
He described himself as a sailor warning that the campaign is sailing into shoals "while the rest of the officers and warrants are poring over plans and maps and high-minded thoughts."
Joe McCain did not return a phone message and an e-mail asking him to discuss his complaint. The McCain campaign declined to comment.
His angry dispatch to McCain campaign and Republican Party officials appears to reflect growing restiveness among supporters over the direction of the presidential contest.
On Monday, an influential conservative commentator, William Kristol, wrote in The New York Times that McCain should "fire his campaign" and revert to his former image as "a cheerful, open and accessible candidate."
With the election less than three weeks away, newly released national polling shows Barack Obama holding a significant lead, as he has since the economy became an overwhelming voter concern last month. The Democrat is running 9 percentage points ahead of McCain among likely voters, 50 percent to 41 percent, according to a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg opinion survey. A New York Times/CBS News poll has Obama's advantage at 53 percent to 39 percent.
Strategists in both parties say McCain needs a strong showing in the final debate to win over undecided voters and plant fresh doubts among soft Obama supporters.
