Concern trolls, cont'd.

I wrote yesterday about the "concern trolls" at Maverick HQ, and now the Times of London reports that longtime McCain adviser Mark Salter is the Troll-in-Chief:

With his electoral prospects fading by the day, Senator John McCain has fallen out with his vice-presidential running mate about the direction of his White House campaign.
McCain has become alarmed about the fury unleashed by Sarah Palin, the moose-hunting "pitbull in lipstick", against Senator Barack Obama. . . .
Mark Salter, McCain's long-serving chief of staff, is understood to have told campaign insiders that he would prefer his boss, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, to suffer an "honourable defeat" rather than conduct a campaign that would be out of character -- and likely to lose him the election. . . .

Lots more there worth reading. Allahpundit asks:

Is McCain's attempt at calming the crowd yesterday the first inkling of the Salter "strategy" being put into effect?

I think not. Who, after all, would have suggested that McCain cancel his campaign and fly to Washington to push for the bailout? Surely no one who actually wanted to win the election.

UPDATE: Ace:

I now have a theory as to why the Fannie/Freddie stuff was left on the table almost until it was too late -- and then only addressed half-heartedly -- but I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for recriminations ahead of us.

No, we need to get started on recriminations now, before "sources close to the campaign" start leaking half-truths to their MSM buddies.