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IF WE WOULD ONLY LET HIM, JOHN MCCAIN WOULD SAVE US.
Shorter David Brooks: The American people have forced John McCain to run a dishonorable campaign. Especially -- gasp -- those young journalists!
McCain started out with the same sort of kibitzing campaign style that he used to woo the press back in 2000. ... This time there were too many cameras around and too many 25-year-old reporters and producers seizing on every odd comment to set off little blog scandals. ... McCain and his advisers realized the only way they could get TV attention was by talking about the subject that interested reporters most: Barack Obama. ... McCain and his advisers have been compelled to adjust to the hostile environment around them. They have been compelled, at least in their telling, to abandon the campaign they had hoped to run. Now they are running a much more conventional race, the kind McCain himself used to ridicule.
Boy. For a little while there, I thought there might have been some problem with Saint John's message, or the fact thatt lobbyists run his campaign, or even that his tired, Bush III policy proposals weren't attractive. But now I know it's my fault -- all of our fault! I'm just picturing John McCain physically beating what remains of American political dignity, shouting "don't make me hurt you any more!"
--Tim Fernholz
COMMENTS (10)
Actually a more accurate interpretation of the Brooksian subtext is that McCain's mental deterioration has forced the campaign to isolate him from reporters.
Posted by: cervantes | August 19, 2008 10:46 AM
And yet somehow Obama -- who is the same media scrutiny if not more -- can somehow run for president without impugning McCain's patriotism. Gosh, he must be doing something wrong.
Posted by: boy oh boy | August 19, 2008 10:49 AM
Graf 4 says "McCain... going places other Republicans don't go, saying things politicians don't say..." So he's a Republican but not a politician at all.
Posted by: JBJ | August 19, 2008 10:59 AM
We're supposed to believe McCain is a POW again--only this time, it's the American people, the press, and his advisors who are forcing this poor, wonderful man to do things that violate his sense of honor and dignity?
And, what, we should all forgive this poor trapped man the inexcusable slanders and slurs and lies he makes against his opponent, and instead focus on how totally noble and brave and noble he is when he occasionally decides there's a line he won't cross (eg--exploiting his son's service or going after Obama's kids)?
It's not the American people's fault or the press' fault that John McCain is running a sleazy campaign. He's the boss. This is how he leads.
McCain is the one who hired all these lobbyists, who takes Karl Rove's calls and who put Sailer in charge knowing full well that those guys denigrated McCain's service and went after his daughter Bridget.
He can't play victim. He's not a POW anymore, he's the leader.
Posted by: anon | August 19, 2008 11:36 AM
If 25-year-old reporters can compel John McCain to abandon the campaign he wants to run, imagine what Vladimir Putin or Osama bin Laden can compel John McCain to do.
Posted by: pfc | August 19, 2008 11:50 AM
mccain got whupped running a straight campaign because he has no ideas. off shore drilling is an idea? puhlease. if your only ambition is to be president and you can't beat them...join them.
Posted by: norm | August 19, 2008 11:51 AM
"McCain and his advisers realized the only way they could get TV attention was by talking about the subject that interested reporters most: Barack Obama. ... McCain and his advisers have been compelled to adjust to the hostile environment around them. They have been compelled, at least in their telling, to abandon the campaign they had hoped to run. Now they are running a much more conventional race, the kind McCain himself used to ridicule."
So basically what Brooks is saying is that McCain has made the choice to sacrifice his supposedly core values in order to win the presidency. Or, stated another way- to John McCain, winning the presidency is more important than those values.
I think I agree with Brooks.
Posted by: bucky | August 19, 2008 12:31 PM
I'm no fan of Brooks or McCain, but while Reading Brooks' column I keep thinking about the message on that t-shirt the reporters covering Dean gave him after his campaign collapsed -- "We have the power."
The truth is, we get the kind of campaign the political and mainstream media want to cover.
That's a problem for candidates from both parties. But, most especially, it's a problem for all of us.
Posted by: esmense | August 19, 2008 1:04 PM
Salad Bad Brooks
Posted by: fredo bush | August 19, 2008 6:36 PM
Oooooops!
Salad BAR Brooks
(I only typed three words and I made a typo. Please forgive me. That was pretty lame.)
Posted by: fredo bush | August 19, 2008 6:42 PM