GOP to McCain: "You're no Bob Dole"

Responding to this Washington Times interview in which John McCain suddenly blasts the Bush Administration (for policies he supported 90 percent of the time), a senior Republican strategist writes to Mike Allen in Politico:

The fact is, when you’re the party standard-bearer, you have an obligation to fight to the finish. I think they can still win. But if they don’t think that, they need to look at how Bob Dole finished out his campaign in 1996 and not try to take down as many Republicans with them as they can. Instead of campaigning in Electoral College states, Dole was campaigning in places he knew he didn’t have a chance to beat Clinton, but where he could energize key House and Senate races. I think you’ll find these sentiments shared by MANY of my fellow Republican strategists.