As first reported by the NYT Empire Zone reports, Josh Isay is coming aboard as campaign director to steer this front-running but uncertain vessel towards judgment day in just over two months.

This’ll help get a little of the joe-mentum mojo back, it’s a good bet.

With all the staffing tumult in Lieberman’s campaign, and a voracious world press corps on the doorstep, Isay is as well positioned experience-wise as any potential campaign operative to take on this humongous gig.

His management of Chuck Schumer’s 1998 Senate campaign against incumbent Al D’Amato was quite well done, and having had plenty of experience dealing with the NYC tabloid press helps him enormously in this unpredictable, explosive media environment.

We’ll just have to see how well he works with Neil Newhouse… that’ll be interesting. Regardless, this is a big move for Lieberman. The Lamont campaign’s skill level deficit just got a little wider.

The Hotline item today reporting that GOP polling guru Lance Tarrance has signed on with John McCain’s Straight Talk America PAC is an interesting and significant development in the GOP ’08 primary competition, which is well underway.

Lance, along with Arthur Finkelstein, Bob Teeter and perhaps a few others are pioneers in the pantheon of pollsters — GOP or otherwise. It’s also good to see him resurface in such a public manner.

Here’s the press release excerpt from the Hotline:

GOP strategist Lance Tarrance has signed on with Sen. John McCain’s Straight Talk America PAC as a senior adviser. McCain: “I am delighted Lance will be lending his considerable talents to Straight Talk America. He has been a longstanding central player in electing Republicans to office, and I am grateful Straight Talk will benefit from the strategic experience of such a distinguished professional.” Tarrance: “I appreciate Senator McCain’s commitment to maintaining a Republican majority through the 2006 election cycle, and I am glad to be a part of his effort.” Tarrance is one half of RT Strategies, with Dem Thomas Riehle. The two produce the Cook Political Report/RT Strategies poll. The firm has no campaign clients this cycle (release, 8/2).

Recalling reserve power in the memory banks, the last John Weaver/Lance Tarrance hook-up was with the 1990 Texas GOP gubernatorial primary with Rep. Kent Hance, who lost the primary to West Texas oilman (as he was then characterized) Clayton Williams, for whom i worked.

The general election, with good ‘ol Ann Richards as the victor, is history, and another story in itself.

For Lance, a Texan, i’m pretty sure Hance was his last joint venture with Weaver. The likelihood, today, of this having a happier ending, is quite good.

Brick by brick, and constituency by constituecy, this McCain gig is moving methodically down the track. Lance Tarrance is a huge sign-up.

Gordon Hensley