Too Much Access? McCain Campaign Reporter: "It Gets To The Point Where You Just Want Them To Shut Up Sometimes"

Via of the North Country Times, NPR correspondent Scott Horsley has some fabulous tidbits from the campaign trail, having first been assigned to Mitt Romney and then switching to John McCain of late. Here's the flipside of McCain's vaunted access:

Lately, he's been covering presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, whose campaign has been busy sapping the energy of even the most health-food-fortified reporters.

"They just hold court constantly," Horsley said. "They are an open book when it comes to their strategy, their tactics, their view of the race. It gets to the point where you just want them to shut up sometimes."

Double-edged sword, eh? He goes on:

McCain has been amazingly accessible to the press, with the exception of a few days after a supposed sex scandal broke out, Horsley said.

"You can talk to him three times a day if you want," he said. "At every event he does a news conference, and then he gets on a plane and has another news conference."

The problem for Horsley is simple: "What can I possibly ask that hasn't been asked three times today?

Other tidbits,:

• Ann Romney had to stop her husband from wandering into a beauty salon in Iowa as he was being tailed by the media. Said smart Ann: "You cannot take the TV cameras into a hair salon."

• McCain is more press friendly than not only Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but also John Kerry ("not particularly accommodating") or, in a surprise call out, George W. Bush, whom he said was "utterly contemptuous" of the press. And they still wanted to have a beer with him. Geesh.

• He characterized an Obama audience as having a "euphoric" experience, and said Clinton was impossible to stump in a marathon question-and-answer period in New Hampshire: "There was not a problem that she didn't have a four- or five-point plan for or something to say about it. She showed everybody, if they had any doubt, that she has a very solid grasp of arcane policy details."

Comments

[zendem1]

THINGS OVERHEARD ON THE INSAIN EXPRESS

"Jeez..you really think he wears Depends?"

"I swear I heard him singing "Viva Viagra"

"Senator!..Stop!..That's not the bathroom!"

"Cindy..I'd like you to meet Dr. Nick."

"Wondr if Vicki sleeps with the fishes or Ken Lay?"

"

[OddManOut]

Nothing new. Matt Tiabbi (with Rolling Stone and contributor for Bill Maher's "Real Time") has been saying this for years now.

Candidates say the same thing over and over again, which gets boring.

[PaulLoeb]

Just as with Bush, the press is being spun by a friendly folksy manner. Sad.

[lastams]

Well they can’t change their story now.
“We’re supporting a united democracy in Iraq fighting AlQadea.
AlQadea is ON THE RUN but not yet defeated.”
Simple views for simple minds. Behold the Republican voter.
One wonders if the Mahdi Army is also “on the run” , or do we expect to maintain a permanent cease-fire with Al Sadar? Or how about the MEK, Ansar Al-Islam, Faylaz Badar, The Iraqi Organization of Liberation, The Ansar Al-Sunnah Army, The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan, Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas, Usbat Al-Huda (The daughters of Guidance), The Resistance Front, Kata'ib Al-Zilzal Al-Mujahidah (Jihadist Earthquake Brigades), Kata'ib Salah Al-Din, Kata'ib Al-Mujahidin, Jama'at Al-Tawhid wa Al-Jihad (Unification and Jihad Group), Jaysh Al-Mahdi, Jund Al-Sham. (God's Wrath), Tha'r Allah, Mafariz Al-Intiqam (Martyrs Brigades of the Hamas Movement), Sarkhi Hassani, Mujahedin Allahu Akbar (God is Great Fighters); Are they also “ON THE RUN”?
One wonders if some of the Iraqis we SUPPORT should not also be “ON THE RUN”.
The ubiquitous politician Ahmad (Trust Me) Chalabi is back in favor. The man whose “intelligence” gave us an excuse for invasion, has been ON THE RUN, from bank officials in Jordan, where he is still wanted for Bank Fraud.
Perhaps Al Malaki’s Dawa Party or Al Hakim’s Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq should be ON THE RUN. Both are Iranian supported radical Moslem organizations who are RUNNING this so-called Iraqi democracy; isn’t this who we’re SUPPOSED TO BE FIGHTING; radical Moslem organizations?
And don’t even mention the Saudis, the number one support for the Sunni insurrection as well as terrorism worldwide. They are certainly not ON THE RUN. Oh no, since the price of oil has tripled, the most repressive Islamic regime in the region is fat with profits. They have recently bought up the largest block of Citibank, and are bleeding the Western World dry. Apparently the quest to spread freedom though the region doesn’t apply to the Kingdom, where women are still stoned to death for driving a car.
So while Cheney and McCain tag team the media with their fairie tales, one wonders when the Democratic nominees are going to cut through the crap and call a spade a spade? When will the Democrats stand up and proclaim that the terrorists we support are virtually indistinguishable from the ones we are fighting?
And when we finally hear some truthful intelligent discourse regarding our role in the Middle East?

[exiled53]

Seems to me, if you like President Bush, you will love John McCain.

[adamsmith]

Seems to me anything remotely harmful to Obama has "comments closed", with the main headline.....PravdaPost is more like it. I think the censorship on this website now surpasses anything Castro has done............

[Nova16]

My eyesight is going bad< I love the CAPS. McCain and the criminal, draft dodger are in the Middle East using their "compassionate conservatism" an oxymoron that tops them all to propagandize their 100 yrs war, which would be the second in the history of the world. BRING IT ON! I know that the Haliburton War Corporation has been in charge of our foreign policy for the past seven years but where do these two warmongerers think the money is coming from to finance the continuing debacle in Iraq. This phony "war" has pilfered our treasury to near bankruptcy and with the Fed printing money faster than Bush can create a new crisis funding appears to be in serious jeopardy. I forgot Red China has been our maiden aunt in providing the money for this boondoggle in Iraq, but they could be facing problems cutting back on production and driving to clean its polluted atmosphere and may need its financial resources. So the question that needs answering since McCain has no knowledge of economics and Cheney is a master at thievery--How do we finance the continuance of this "war" during a depression, a galactic federal debt and growing exponentially and budget deficit. Maybe these two could give us a clue.

[grammology]

I wish we would just discuss issues and not personal past or current flaws we all have. I'm still trying to figure out who will do the best job. And it makes me crazy that all three of our presidential candidates remain working for us, with full benefits while not showing up for work most of the time. Is it not true that this can only happen in our country? They all should be off, and admit they are not capable of representing us while campaigning. Its ludicrous.....

Dorothy from grammology
remember to call your gram
www.grammology.com

[batgirlevi]

Did he call any of them "you little jerk" yet?

[scooperss]

Not much of a reporter if he can't think of questions that haven't been asked three times already. Or were they asked but not answered? Or where they asked and then not reported? Asked and then the answers forgotten? See I have a lot of questions.

Fro goodness sakes, the man's a presidential candidate and you can't think of any new questions? Ask him why he's fundraising out of the country.

Maybe the reporter is an clown?

[gypsy508]

Agreed. I have a few to ask.

[SEQUOIABISON]

Did you ask him why he loves war so much? And why he hates Muslims? And why does he think they hate us? Do not let him get away with saying they resent us for our freedom. Only idiotic Bush and McCain supporters would believe that.

[postedby]

Why do you "think they hate us"?

[John]

60 years of exploitation, imperialism (through our 51st state, Israel), bombing the hell out of Iraq, supporting Saddam when he was gassing his own people, overthrowing the legitimately elected government of Iran to reinstall the Shah, supporting OBL when he was fighting the Russians in the Mujahadin in our proxy war in Afghanistan, supporting despotic rulers like the Saudi Royal family, while condemning others, based solely on who cooperates with US oil companies, etc.

Or maybe the Republican mouth breather answer would work for you. They hate our freedom.

[candybar]

If they ask mccain all these question ...why dont we hear the answers

[scooperss]

Obviously they're playing trivial pursuit!

[Colmore]

Ask him about Vicki Iseman, that should shut him up. Ask "Why can nobody locate her? Maybe the people who located Spitzer's little bimbo should be put on the job" Funny how when a democratic politician is "caught" all the details come out. Repugs. keep everything under wraps. Is the fix already in for McCain to be pres? He is acting so full of himself, something is going on.

[rjean]

there is no THERE there with iseman......the ny slimes scheme didnt work.........................

the mccain NOTHING story was BIG front page news but the "lovely" gov of ny story was BURIED in their rag................

fair ...oh yeah........................

go mccain

[NickOhio]

I would venture a guess that the NYT is far more objective with the news than Fox News.

McCain is clueless about Economics, he will be in Iraq for the next 100 years if needed, he is silent about Ms. Iseman (as well as his involvement in the whole deal where he & Ms Iseman allegedly worked together) and he refuses to talk about how, why & when he met his current wife. Those are all as relevant topics as any other candidate faces.

Oh yeah, who is McCain's spiritual leader? Do we even know?

To continue along this line a tad... who is Rove's pastor? Rod Parsley. You think Rev. Wright is volatile, he is a 12-year old Boy Scout compared to Rev. Parsley. Why did Bush and his minions in the 2000 campaign, slam into McCain hard as nails with complete and utter fabrications? Why did McCain swoon over Bush, seemingly asking for forgiveness and support when it should have been Bush apologizing to him for Rove's tactics?

[larryfishkorn]

Boy, that McCain is so CHARMING! I hope his free ride so far is only because the feeble minds in the news media can only focus on the Democrat shitbrick. Once Hillary goes away, hopefully they'll pile into him, but I'm not counting on it. It would be a shame to leave Iraq while there's still money left in the Reserve.

[Counterglow]

"The problem for Horsley is simple: 'What can I possibly ask that hasn't been asked three times today?"

You mean these people might actually have to do real research and ask questions about real issues? Oh, the humanity!

[iPolitics]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKFL-Mz4rto