Society Issues Talk

Harry Hope · Guest

The Senior Moment Senator from Arizona has a cunning plan to reduce
his cavalcade of gaffes over the coming months.

I'm sure you'll appreciate this...
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/07/09/mccain_campaign_restricts_pres.html

Welcome to the new John McCain press strategy.

Avoid them.

McCain today held a 10-minute press conference, complete with podium,
microphones for the questioners, network-quality audio and a camera
for a local television station, which allowed CNN to carry it live.

And where was the national press corps?

Sitting on the runway 27 miles away, having been ferried to McCain's
charter plane, totally unaware that a press availability was about to
take place until one of the handful of "pool reporters" sent an e-mail
alert.

Yes, it seems that the McCain campaign has decided to go the
all-too-familiar route of making sure only "good" reporters get access
to the GOP candidate.

National reporters still get some access;

in fact, the campaign promises some time with the candidate later
today as the campaign bus rambles from West Virginia to Portsmouth,
Ohio.

McCain gathered several reporters at the front of the plane while
traveling in South America last week.

But that access has been whittled away as McCain became the nominee.

The Straight Talk is reserved now as a carrot for local reporters,
leaving the national press corps on a charter bus trailing behind.

And in case you were wondering whose idea it was to kick reporters off
the "Straight Talk Express"...

The new approach may reflect the growing influence of the
newly-powerful Steve Schmidt, a top adviser and protege of Bush
political guru Karl Rove, who was famous for his desire to control the
press's access to his candidate.

So as you can see, John McCain is nothing at all like George W. Bush.

By EarlG
Democratic Underground
http://www.democraticunderground.com/

Harry