It Only Matters Who Has the Best Line of Shite July 22
Not long ago - while Clinton and Obama were engaged in their fight-to-the death cage match - John McCain gloried in the reflected glow of the media. He gave them unprecedented access and asked the boys on the bus over for a little BBQ and beer to seal the deal. In return, he got good press. In new ads, out today, McC carps about the O-Man getting all the props now.
An astonishing reversal of fortune? Not so much. While one would hope adult professionals aren’t swayed by some pulled pork on a bun, I’m sure it happens. But the question of access and actions has a little more to do with it than a cold, Belgian-owned Bud and the secret family sauce.
McCain’s original open access was a good deal for everyone, but it was a reckless campaign move. McCain is a man not unlike Dub. He’s prone to verbal gaffes when he holds forth at the back of the Fork-Tongued Express. He’s even deadlier in front of a crowd making a formal speech. His campaign banked that what they call his “authenticity” would carry the day. But the gamble didn’t work.
Team Obama did a couple of things to bring the media over to his side. He finished his bruising primary run and moved quickly to heal his accumulated bumps, cuts, and bruises. Meanwhile, Mr. McCainiac wasted the advantage by, well, giving BBQs and drinking beer. He still talked plenty on the bus, but issued few new policy positions and was boringly slow to respond to questions and issues. If there’s one thing that’s sure death to the media, it’s boredom. “Authentic” jokes about rape to the contrary, an average day with McCain is about as interesting as watching some sandy, cactus-ridden Arizona scrub land.
The other thing Obama did was to learn a lesson from ol’ Johnny - and then reversing it. He tightened his restrictions on the media. He only talked on a grand scale to throngs more akin to Sunday afternoons at the football game than whistlestops - and he did it well. Every event was carefully staged and he made policy talks that - if not exactly trailblazing - were at least not boring. Obama handled problems better too. He managed to turn the Rev. Wright debacle into a plus and has shrugged off other bad news fairly readily. McCain never has gotten rid of his reputation as a lobbyist magnet and still wrestles with his own pastor problem. It boiled down to trying to cozy up to the press vs. running a tight media ship where the candidate controls the news cycle.
Those on both sides complain about the media and many of those complaints are merited, but this is one of those times when the campaigns themselves carried more weight than the personal choices of Big Media mavens. When a candidate lives and dies by press clippings they have to learn how to play the game. I expect media coverage will shift many more times as this interminable campaign goes on. John will eventually learn how to do it at least as well as learning how to get his email. Obie will inevitably step in some cowpie and take his licking. Alliances will change, mistakes will be made, there will be tiffs and outrageous charges the media is more than happy to report. It’s a dance as old as politics itself. It’s like my Dad used to say, “It doesn’t matter if someone’s right or wrong, it only matters who has the best line of shite.”
Truer words have never been spoken.
The Poobah is a featured contributor at Bring It On!
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