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With Weaver and his loyalists largely gone, the inner circle that Davis assembled worked in relative harmony. Even Salter, who's close to Weaver and sided with him in intramural battles, put aside any ill will he felt toward Davis. ("Salter is probably the greatest human being of all of them," says one McCain associate. "He's only interested in McCain.") And the new inner circle did more than just get along. Although it lacked such essentials as a pollster, it plotted a course to the nomination. McKinnon turned out memorable ads, including a video--with footage of McCain as a POW--that stirred audiences before rallies. Schmidt came up with the idea to dub McCain's first major swing after his mid-summer implosion the "No Surrender Tour"--an allusion to his own refusal to quit the race as much his desire to remain in Iraq. And Black brought a mature and polished presence to a political operation that, under Weaver, tended to be more emotional than cerebral. "He's totally unflappable ... and he's an incredibly calming influence," says one adviser.
Presiding over it all was Davis who, even some critics concede, accomplished the improbable. "Rick kept an operation together under some pretty challenging circumstances," says one McCain associate allied with Weaver, "and made sure McCain had enough resources to do what he had to do."
But, as the McCain campaign turns toward the general election and begins the necessary expansion and adjustments, the rivalries have begun resurfacing. Some McCainiacs simply can't bring themselves to credit Davis for McCain's comeback, attributing it to the candidate himself. "He took the campaign on his back, both literally and figuratively," says Weaver. "I think it was more grit than strategic thinking that got him the nomination."
