Team McCain: Ready for Prime Time?

Aides who were lobbyists, preachers who are controversial, a murky message. Can McCain get back on course?

Christopher Morris / VII for TIME

Republican presidential candidate John McCain

John McCain knows how to win small. No other candidate in memory has done it better. Give him a microphone, a chartered bus and some Purell, and he can take down a state with raw hustle and personality — a few corny jokes, some "straight talk" and his own heroic tale. When he wrapped up the G.O.P. nomination in March, his campaign employed just 90 people. It was a bit like the Bad News Bears winning the National League pennant.

But grit and luck get you only so far. Fall campaigns for President require...

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