ALEXANDRIA - Campaigns require a lot of small choices. Unlike major policy stances, these individual decisions often go unnoticed by the general public. But these minor preferences accumulate to make strong statements about a candidate and his beliefs.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and those working for his campaign make these small choices every day. Taken together, they speak volumes about McCain's goals and his beliefs about how politics ought to work.
Even before walking in the door of McCain's national headquarters in Alexandria, I could tell that something was strange. There were no people outside holding posters or passing out flyers to people walking by. When I did enter the somewhat drab, unassuming building, I figured out why: They were all crammed inside, hard at work.
McCain lost yesterday's primary in Virginia by a substantial margin - 44 percent to Gov. George W. Bush's 53 percent. But the members of his campaign weren't discouraged.
McCain and his supporters know that he's an underdog. They know he's fighting against a powerful GOP political establishment that has thrown considerable weight behind Bush. As a result, his campaign reflects his position as the reform-based, less-conservative, grassroots candidate.
Those characteristics don't make it easy to win in a commonwealth as conservative as Virginia - a place one staffer called "Bush country." But McCain's campaign appears to have stuck to its principles, and this shows up in the small choices.
The office in Alexandria is only identifiable by a hand-lettered sign and a small "McCain 2000" bumper sticker on the glass door. It has no plush lobby or extensive lounge area, and visitors aren't greeted by an effervescent receptionist.
Handmade posters adorn the walls of the aesthetically unimpressive office. These signs, made on plain white posterboard with writing in red and blue tempera paint - the kind you used in fifth grade art class - seem to speak for what McCain wants to do with his campaign. The messages on the signs aren't perfectly lettered and don't look expensive, but they get their message across. And evidently, that's all they are there to do.
It was clear that utility - getting things done - is the primary concern for these staffers. No one in this office is there for the cushy furniture, leisurely hours or glamorous work environment. They are there because they believe in McCain and are willing to make sacrifices for him.
As we walked past the unpainted drywall hallways, Deputy Press Secretary Heather Mirjahangir joked that the McCain campaign demanded "only the best" for its office. She described the atmosphere of the office as "crazy," largely because the staff of approximately 50 is charged with performing the task that over 100 people do for Bush's campaign.
Mirjahangir confirmed that McCain didn't expect to win Virginia. She said that "Bush's extensive network" in the Commonwealth made it so that anything other than a landslide victory for Bush would be considered a win.
The 20 to 30 modest-looking but enthusiastic staffers who gathered at a small Alexandria restaurant for a post-primary get-together did seem to see yesterday's primary as a win for the campaign. The crucial accomplishment was that McCain didn't get steamrolled by the GOP juggernaut in an area where Bush should have demolished him.
This is evidence to the McCain people that they're doing something right. McCain's message - one of "straight-talk," reform, common sense and no-nonsense politics - appears to be getting through to people. He's not there yet, but he's making progress.
McCain supporters can take pride in the fact that they have done what no one thought possible - they've kept up with the hefty checkbook and institutional backing that the Bush campaign enjoys. And they've done it with nothing more than a man, a message and a few people who believe in that message.
Next week presents the biggest political test so far for McCain, when 11 states - including the crucial big-vote holders of California, Ohio, New York and Massachusetts - have their primaries. How McCain fares in these elections likely will make or break his campaign.
So the McCain camp has its work cut out for itself if it's going to overcome Bush's advantages in resources, personnel, support from the party and public officials. But everyone in the small office in Old Town Alexandria seems up for the task.
Some people might say that politics is about the big issues and big decisions. McCain likely would say instead that politics is supposed to be about the small things - about character, straightforward discussion and the people. The next few weeks will determine which ideas win out. The McCain campaign knows what they stand for - making the small choices right. (Bryan Maxwell is a Cavalier Daily associate editor.)
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