McCain loses another trooper

We missed this earlier in the week -- hey, we've been busy -- but the Democratic National Committee was more than happy to make sure in an e-mail blast this morning that political journalists saw the Politico.com item about John McCain losing another staffer.  Robert Terra, McCain's war room director, has joined the exodus that included Matt David, formerly of Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

The trickling out of staffers -- Terra reportedly was replaced by two interns -- comes as McCain has enjoyed a little bump in national polls.  But the Washington Times reports his fundraising has been slow, about $3.7 million this quarter, lower than a $4.5-million target.  Even that target, though, puts him well behind the likely cash draws of Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani at a time when McCain really needs to be building machinery, not dismantling it.

The current financial reporting period ends Sept. 30, so watch the next week or so for a spike in speculative stories on who has raised what.

-- Scott Martelle