THE PLOT THINS
the races thicken.
Interesting reading at Slate.com today: John Dickerson's
piece about how John McCain is ready to go where Republicans fear
to tread. In other words: to inner cities, heavily African-American
sections of the South, and poor sections of Appalachia. But also, it turns out:
to audiences not hand-picked, pre-screened, or guaranteed to love and coddle and
stroke his fragile ego. He'll be engaging -- or so we're told -- in unfiltered,
freewheeling town-hall meetings where attendees will be able to ask him anything
they want. Mark Salter, McCain's top advisor, says people will be free to
praise, chastise, and argue with
him.
Sounds good. Sounds even better when you consider what a stark contrast it is to the workings and shelterings and President-in-the-rhetorical-bubble-ings of George W. Bush. Or, for that matter, the prefabbed presidential campaign rallies of Barack Obama. And of Hillary Clinton. And of everyone, it seems, but Chelsea Clinton.
It should be fascinating to watch, not only to observe the fireworks and to gauge McCain's most (in)famous competing instincts -- authenticity, and anger -- in front of that most rare of political commodities: the honest-to-goodness, real-live, common-man-and-woman audience. And all the more so because it's intended to, among other things, draw a stark contrast between Maverick John and Smooth Talkin' Barack:
The McCain tour also aims to draw a contrast with Barack Obama. (They already assume he's going to win the nomination.) The GOP's attack will boil down to the accusation that Obama is a big phony. The Democrat gives them an opening: Obama talks about how he goes in front of hostile audiences, but he doesn't really do it much. He heralds his bipartisan appeal and talent for bringing people together, but his track record on these fronts is thin. He talks about how his administration will put its negotiations over policy on C-SPAN, but he has run a conventionally conservative campaign, keeping press access relatively low. When his top economic aide (and former Slate contributor), Austan Goolsbee, got into trouble, the campaign hid him under a bushel rather than offering him to reporters to answer questions. "Obama talks about doing these things," says a McCain aide, "he just doesn't do them." With big acts of accessibility and reaching out beyond his party ranks, McCain hopes to show as well as tell that Obama's promises to do the same are empty.
When you consider that attempt to draw a stark contrast with another piece of interesting reading today -- the Associated Press national poll numbers that show McCain pulling dead-even with both Senator Breath of Fresh Air and Senator Sniper Fire -- and you have all the makings of an interesting month indeed.
Between this stuff and the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it's all the drama we could possibly want. Or take.
Sounds good. Sounds even better when you consider what a stark contrast it is to the workings and shelterings and President-in-the-rhetorical-bubble-ings of George W. Bush. Or, for that matter, the prefabbed presidential campaign rallies of Barack Obama. And of Hillary Clinton. And of everyone, it seems, but Chelsea Clinton.
It should be fascinating to watch, not only to observe the fireworks and to gauge McCain's most (in)famous competing instincts -- authenticity, and anger -- in front of that most rare of political commodities: the honest-to-goodness, real-live, common-man-and-woman audience. And all the more so because it's intended to, among other things, draw a stark contrast between Maverick John and Smooth Talkin' Barack:
The McCain tour also aims to draw a contrast with Barack Obama. (They already assume he's going to win the nomination.) The GOP's attack will boil down to the accusation that Obama is a big phony. The Democrat gives them an opening: Obama talks about how he goes in front of hostile audiences, but he doesn't really do it much. He heralds his bipartisan appeal and talent for bringing people together, but his track record on these fronts is thin. He talks about how his administration will put its negotiations over policy on C-SPAN, but he has run a conventionally conservative campaign, keeping press access relatively low. When his top economic aide (and former Slate contributor), Austan Goolsbee, got into trouble, the campaign hid him under a bushel rather than offering him to reporters to answer questions. "Obama talks about doing these things," says a McCain aide, "he just doesn't do them." With big acts of accessibility and reaching out beyond his party ranks, McCain hopes to show as well as tell that Obama's promises to do the same are empty.
When you consider that attempt to draw a stark contrast with another piece of interesting reading today -- the Associated Press national poll numbers that show McCain pulling dead-even with both Senator Breath of Fresh Air and Senator Sniper Fire -- and you have all the makings of an interesting month indeed.
Between this stuff and the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it's all the drama we could possibly want. Or take.
Posted: Thu - April 10, 2008 at 06:52 PM
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Published On: Jan 16, 2009 04:50 PM
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Published On: Jan 16, 2009 04:50 PM