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MCCAIN AND THE MEDIA. Greg Sargent points us to the McCain camp's latest get-your-game-face-on claim about the negative press coverage of his hilarious Baghdad stroll. Says The New York Times, "some recent critical reporting by newspapers and television networks of Mr. McCain�s trip to Baghdad last week has paradoxically been clearly welcomed in the McCain camp; one reason conservatives have been wary of him is because he is perceived as being close to the news media, and Mr. McCain made note of that in his speech." As Greg shows, this is obviously largely bluff, and at any rate what was most damaging about the Baghdad fiasco was the real-life discrepancy between McCain's words and the massive security apparatus flanking him during his visit -- that was hardly the product of media spin. But the broader issue of McCain deliberately souring his chummy relationship with the media as a base-targeting campaign ploy was something taken up by Steve Benen in a recent TAP Online piece, and is a dynamic that probably bears watching.
On a different note, in the Times piece Sargent flags we get this passage:
There is a potential upside for Mr. McCain and others who back the war. With some military officers saying the troop increase is showing early signs of success in pacifying Baghdad, the Republicans� strategy of aligning with the president could prove a daring but potentially fruitful move should the military strategy succeed.Well, yes. But you don't even need to have read this morning's headlines coming out of Iraq's capital to think this is, alas, one hell of a long-shot bet.
--Sam Rosenfeld
