Inside McCain Camp, a Mood of Gritty Determination

Sen. John McCain, in Durango, Colo., on Friday. Despite polls showing him behind, his aides remain upbeat. "He's been in tougher spots than being behind in a few polls," Steve Schmidt said. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)
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But among McCain supporters, aides say they have not seen a drop-off in intensity. They said the desire to fight on is fueled in part by a frustration that McCain has not been treated fairly by the media.

"Most staff and volunteers do not worry about the armchair quarterbacks and second-guessers; they simply work hard fighting for the person they believe should be president," said political director Mike DuHaime, who works with the volunteers. "No poll or critic will ever make any staffer or volunteer believe Barack Obama would be a better president than John McCain."

On the trail, McCain himself seems more agitated than he did during the primaries. His smile seems more forced during television interviews, and the string of jokes he used to tell -- such as the one about the inmate who says, "The food was better in here when you were governor" -- are largely gone, replaced with a passionate, intense stump speech.

At the end of his speeches, he vows to be a fighter for causes he believes in, imploring his crowds not to "give up hope. Be strong. Have courage. And fight." The words are about issues, but as the campaign winds down, they feel more like a plea to continue campaigning for him.

It is reminiscent of the "No Surrender Tour" that McCain launched as his primary campaign floundered in the summer of 2007. The tour's title was about the Iraq war, but many saw it as a campaign motto, as well.

"Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history," McCain said in Albuquerque on Saturday. "Now, let's go win this election and get this country moving again!"

Senior aides who see McCain describe his mood as "steady" and "realistic." "He's fighting hard, and he believes he can win," one adviser said. "He knows he has to come from behind. But he believes he can win this race."

About 1,000 people gathered at a plaza in Mesilla, N.M., on Saturday afternoon to hear McCain once again predict that Obama will join with revitalized Democrats in Congress to raid their pocketbooks and "spread the wealth around."

"We're a few points down. The pundits have written us off, just like they have before," he said, drawing cheers by adding: "Maybe I'm a bit old-fashioned. I prefer to let voters decide these things."

McCain's crowds appear to be getting smaller just as Obama has returned to the massive rallies he held earlier in the campaign. Obama drew tens of thousands of people to his own rally in Albuquerque on Saturday night.

Frustrated McCain campaign aides disputed the crowd counts of some of their candidate's recent events, insisting that they were larger than reported. On the McCain plane Saturday, senior adviser Mark Salter said 1,400 people were recorded as going through security in Albuquerque. He said a rally in Durango, Colo., on Friday attracted 8,000.

But his top aides have not entirely lost their sense of humor.

One night last week, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), one of McCain's closest friends, joked with a group of reporters, predicting with great gusto that McCain would win Graham's home state -- hardly a huge achievement given South Carolina's GOP leanings.

And Friday night, Graham and Salter laughed as they watched the "Saturday Night Live" spoof of a full-throated endorsement of McCain from President Bush.

But there is no talk among aides about transition plans or possible jobs in the White House. Instead, conversations almost always turn to complaints about Obama's negative campaigning and the unfair treatment they believe McCain has received at the hands of the media.

"At the end of the day, it's important to set the record straight about Barack Obama's negative campaign, and the immense hypocrisy of his claims about our campaign when he's the real culprit in this race," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said in a memo sent to reporters.

Staff writer Paul Kane in Washington contributed to this report.