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Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Maverick Moment of the Day

posted by on July 9 at 10:30 AM

John McCain is beloved among the press because of his fabled willingness to field questions from all comers—often in rolling round-table discussions on his “Straight Talk Express.”

Knowing this, a writer for Mother Jones has a question:

Why then does it seem that the McCain campaign has been screening questioners during the conference calls featuring campaign aides and top-level surrogates it mounts for reporters?

Here’s how it’s working:

When a reporter calls in for a conference call, he or she is asked by an operator to provide his or her name and media outlet. Then when it comes time for questions, there is a long pause—long enough for someone in the campaign to select whom should be called on. This has caused several journalists who have participated in these calls to wonder: is the McCain campaign screening reporters, and, if so, on what basis? A reporter for a progressive media outlet says that he has tried at least half a dozen times to ask a question on a McCain conference call and has had never been selected.

The same has happened to me. No matter how quickly I press *1, I’m never afforded the opportunity to pose a question. During a June 27 McCain campaign call with former Republican Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift (who was deriding Obama for holding a unity rally with Hillary Clinton at Unity, New Hampshire), I raised my hand, electronically. Two reporters were called on—one from AOL News, the other from the Tampa Tribune—and then the McCain aide hosting the call said, “Seems we are out of questions,” and ended the call. My hand was still up.

Press *1 if you think that’s the model of openness. (And yes, to answer a fair and obvious question: The way the McCain campaign is operating these calls is more restrictive than the model used by the Obama and Clinton campaigns this year.)

RSS icon Comments

1

Yay, proof that Eli is not ECB!

Posted by lostboy | July 9, 2008 10:45 AM
2

The picture in my head is of McCain sitting at a big empty desk with his rotary-dial phone, cluelessly and faithfully answering whichever questions are forwarded to him.

Posted by Mahtli69 | July 9, 2008 10:58 AM
3

McCain, being McSame, can't handle the truth.

Like his comrade Bush, he has to live in a highly sealed box, where only people who hate America as much as he get to talk with him.

Except for the media, who can be in his presence provided they only ask him softball questions.

It's all about the Third Term Entitlement.

Posted by Will in Seattle | July 9, 2008 11:02 AM
4

you can only ask questions if you've been invited to his bbqs and complimented his current wife's makeup.

Posted by chops | July 9, 2008 11:30 AM
5

that reminds me - has anyone actually seen McCain in a closeup on HDTV at 1080p on a 42 inch or bigger set?

Wow.

I mean, there's old, and there's older than Bob Dole.

Posted by Will in Seattle | July 9, 2008 11:55 AM

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