First off, there's McCain's campaign manager throwing a hissy fit over the the media's coverage of Bristol Palin:
McCain's campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, yesterday lashed out at what he deemed ``offensive'' and ``demeaning'' coverage and questions from reporters after McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, confirmed her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.
``It used to be that a lot of those smears and the crap on the Internet stayed out of the newsrooms of serious journalists,'' Schmidt said at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.
So when totally unfounded rumors in regards to Barack Obama being a Muslim, Terrorist, or all around Manchurian candidate, hits the news, these are legitimate issues and need to be covered by the press? I seem to remember all these rumors started on teh tubes and were then spewed out verbatim on CNN, MSNBC and FOX, not to mention the dead tree dailies. It sucks when it happens to your side, doesn't it Schmidt?
Second, he no longer "talks" to reporters. After giving the press free and easy access to him during the 2000 election, that has abruptly ended due to his campaign's very tight message control (read, McCain "mispeaks" so much now, his team has forced him to limit press time).
As the relationship has deteriorated, McCain has stopped hosting his once-famous ``straight talk'' get-togethers on his campaign plane. He also has abandoned regular press conferences.
Instead, he stops occasionally to read short written statements in front of cameras, like he did Aug. 31 in Jackson, Mississippi; then walks away from questions shouted by reporters.
Third, he's now "playing the refs" just as much as Hillary did during the primaries. I'll admit, I think part of Hillary's complaint was justified, especially during February and March, but McCain's had a free pass all along. Now they want to whine because the media's taking a more critical look?
More recently, though, McCain, 72, has accused news organizations such as the New York Times, Time magazine and the NBC network of being unfair to him. The campaign even considered pulling out of one of the three presidential debates because it would be moderated by Tom Brokaw, a former NBC News anchorman.
If he thinks Tom Brokaw is a liberal partisan hack, then maybe he really is losing his marbles. For a man who is such a "maverick" he sure does get his feelings hurt pretty easily. I don't remember Obama whining about the press when he was getting hammered by the press week after week after week. Do we really want a President that is so easily offended? If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
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