McKinnon's crew struggled to replicate the story in 30 seconds. The producer found a stick, took the crew behind their editing studio and drew a cross in the dirt of the schoolyard next door. To McKinnon's surprise, "it was one of the most impactful we made."
The crowds slowly began to build, and by late fall money began trickling in.
Davis' goal was to make an aggressive media buy in New Hampshire while staying under the caps that would allow them to collect public financing. He devised a now-controversial strategy to borrow $3 million to ramp up their ad buy. Davis notes that the short version of McCain's evocative biographical ad played in every early state except Michigan, which he lost.
In New Hampshire, everything clicked. Reporters fought for seats on the bus, where McCain held court as Schmidt perched nearby, making eye contact when he needed to steer the senator back on message.
As the team began its most aggressive offensive against Romney in Florida, Salter vigorously defended McCain when reporters questioned the candidate's accuracy and fairness, while Black plotted the delegate game ahead by phone with Davis from a captain's chair up front. Fire marshals turned voters away from town halls as McCain's crowds surged.
To the White House
The long slog brought the Sedona five to the White House on Wednesday, where they celebrated the end of the first leg of the journey over club sandwiches and tomato soup with members of Bush's team.
All five stood at the far corner of the Rose Garden waiting for McCain and Bush to speak to reporters. For Black, it was a spot where he'd stood many times before. Salter had traded his customary traveling attire -- mud clogs, jeans and sweater (punctured with tiny holes where he hangs his aviator sunglasses) -- for a suit. "Don't get used to it," he said, smirking.
When asked about his team recently, McCain told reporters he wasn't planning "to change anything at all."
"When we sit at the table, and we do sit at the table . . . everybody joins and everybody talks and we are nearly equals," McCain said. "They're not afraid to tell me what they think is right."
The only one who might bow out is McKinnon. He told McCain last year that he admired Barack Obama and would not run the media campaign against him in the general election. But the others doubt that McKinnon will leave, and they're all planning to spend many more hours on the Straight Talk Express.
Davis laughed, remembering one of his deputy's favorite sayings. "McCain rolls like Hotel California -- you can check in, but you can never check out."
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maeve.reston@latimes.com
