Gentry Collins To McCain?

Gentry Collins, a well-respected Republican political strategist who served as Mitt Romney's Iowa state director, is on tap to be one of the McCain campaign's regional campaign managers, three Republicans with knowledge of the situation said today.

Collins was offered the job; it is not clear if he has formally accepted it. He was not able to be reached for comment.

The addition of Collins to the McCain team has implications both practical and symbolic. Collins is one of the party's best nuts-and-bolts campaigners, having experience in Iowa as the party's executive director and as a campaign manager there, and nationally, as political director at the Republican Governors Association.

Symbolically, McCain's campaign has signaled a willingness to reached into the core of his rivals' operation and entrust them with critical state operations. Concern that McCain would staff his campaign with only loyalists is likely to diminish with news that Collins is expected to come on board.