The candidate needs to lock down savvy people he trusts and will listen to, even as he jettisons the troublemakers. When Mr. McCain cut loose a couple of his top advisers in 2007, several senior staff members followed them out the door. This is when a candidate really needs to step up and impose order. The harsh reality of reboots is that some presidential hopefuls are just too out of step with the political moment to rescue. By the fall of 2015, Team Jeb was slashing staff and hoping for the debates to help him win free media.

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Persons: McCain, John Kerry, Howard Dean, Trump, Bush strode, Trump’s, Jeb Organizations: New, NBC, Kerry, Trump Locations: New Hampshire, Iowa