Highway to the Danger Zone

Hey Charles, my friend,

Forget about "That One." I want to know what happened to The Other Guy? You know, the Maverick, John McCain? The guy who might give fellow maverick Tom Cruise a run for his money for fastest decline from top gun to guy whom you don't want to sit next to on the couch?


Common wisdom said Senator McCain would be a tough out for Obama in November and that he was possibly the only Republican with a realistic chance of winning in a political year tailor-made for Democrats. Here was a guy who, for years, has been a media darling, as well as a straight-talker, someone as willing to battle his own party as much as the opposition, someone who pledged a "respectful campaign," and a stand-up guy who once pledged he would never take the low road to the highest office in the land.



Forget for a moment that, as you pointed out several postings ago, McCain has probably been the same guy all along. Ignore, if you can, Rolling Stone's scathing cover story about the "Make-Believe Maverick" or the many reports that have surfaced these past few months of the candidate's erratic, impulsive, and reckless behavior. Quite simply, for all of his apparent and hidden faults, the media loved this guy. And what has he done? He's squandered their love, much like the man-he-would-replace-as-president has squandered the international good will that the United States received in the days and months immediately following 9/11.

That, my friend, is reckless.

Sure, Obama was the new guy, the guy who gives MSNBC commentators thrills up their legs, and, as McCain tried to brand him, the "chosen one." And the McCain camp certainly knew they were going to have to fight day in and day out for the front pages. (Notice I didn't say Internet news coverage here. That would've been too much to ask of McCain's team.) But McCain was not chopped liver in the media darling department. What did he used to call the media? His base? How many times did he appear on Meet the Press and face the tough questions of the late Tim Russert? Fifty-two? So how in the world do you go from being one of the most accessible, friendly, go-to-guys for the media to the cranky old man who appeared before the Des Moines Register just a few days ago? I don't get it. (And I know it's just Des Moines, but last I checked Iowa was considered a swing state.)




To be fair, Hillary Clinton had similar issues with the media, and toward the end of her failed candidacy, the Washington establishment media had, at least in the minds of Clinton supporters, firmly cemented themselves as a key player in the vast anti-Clinton conspiracy. But Hillary Clinton was never beloved by the media as much as John McCain. So how does John McCain choose to confront his growing problem with the media? He picks a running mate more inaccessible to the press than J.D. Salinger. As Dubya might say, "Heckuva job, Johnny."

I'm beginning to think this is one of the most inept campaigns we have ever seen -- at least in our lifetimes -- and that's saying something when you consider we've lived through the dark days of the Duke, Mike Dukakis, Al Gore, and John Kerry. And it's becoming increasingly clear that the way McCain has run his campaign is the way he has comported himself throughout his time in government. Is it not safe to assume that this is how he might approach governing as president?

All of this said, I'm not ready to write off McCain. Not yet. Not when he still has a few friends left in the media. Thank goodness, my friend, for real friends like Sean Hannity!

Ryan