Business to McCain

Washington lobbyists aren’t the only ones trying to figure out their relationship with John McCain’s presidential campaign.

Some members of the business community are just as mystified about their role, if any, in the presumptive Republican nominee’s campaign.

It’s a disorienting state for people who were recruited — or herded — into campaign assignments by an über-organized Bush-Cheney team during the past two presidential campaigns.

Some are explaining their quandary this way: The Bush campaigns, they say, were like cruise ships, with lots of space for everyone and crews eager to find jobs for all comers. Together, they sailed through the often rough waters to the White House — and reelection.

The McCain campaign seems more like a pirate ship. It has a small, feisty and loyal crew that’s uninviting to outsiders. It careens around the campaign seas, sometimes attacking, more often skirting disasters. It’s happy for others to come along for the journey; they just have to bring their own pirate ships.

It’s a metaphor that has been circulating throughout Washington in recent weeks. I heard this account from three different people in three different conversations last week. They all ended with the same bemused shrug.