GOP 'Love' Ad Furthers the Pot-Kettle Dialectic

Senator John McCain is running a pair of ads that say -- get this -- that the media is "in love" with Barack Obama. I know, I know...take a moment to cradle your poor head tenderly in your hands and note the attendant irony of the candidate best known for courting the press, straight up, as his "base," complaining bitterly about this. The press' great affinity for John McCain is well-known. There's a book about it. Even an RSS feed.

So let's not pretend that McCain hasn't been the blessed recipient of the press' ardent devotion. At the same time, let's not kid ourselves! Obama's won a sizable measure of the press' favor for himself as well. Chris Matthews really did feel that tingle up his leg, y'all!

Still, timing is everything, and McCain would have looked like a fool if he had run these ads two weeks ago, when the press was engaged in jumping up and down on Obama's head for an Iraq withdrawal flip-flop that he hadn't even made. And, so, these ads are running now, while Obama is off on his overseas adventure, and when McCain could safely gamble that the eye of the press would be following him everywhere.

And so, I read the headline currently running on the top of our site, "McCain Camp 'Frustrated' With Obama's Trip," and I have to laugh. After all, wasn't this the overseas trip that McCain insisted Obama make, certain that the overall effect, at the very least, would be to burnish McCain's own commander-in-chief credentials, perhaps even giving the candidate an Obama mistake to exploit? Instead, Obama's overseas foray has been a success. Iraqi officials are in alignment with his plans for military extrication and the worst, it seems, that McCain can do is spin a good reception by Europeans as a bad thing.

The whole thing is like an Ian McEwen novel. Oh, well, John. Be careful what you wish for.

Comments

[Herekitty]

Snowball wrote:It's almost as if the beltway pundit class has gotten their talking points straight from Karl Rove himself, trying to turn a candidate's strong points against him.
**
Haven't you heard, according to Scott McCellan that it is a fact that the White House places propaganda with Fox News.

[peterg76]

I guess it doesn't occur to McCain that he is simply the weaker, less qualified, less inspiring candidate.

[SophieL]

The difference is that the press respects McCain, but does not overlook his shortcomings. With Obama, they are head-over-heals in love and can't imagine that he has any shortcomings. For casual on-lookers, it looks like an adolescent crush and you wish they'd grow out of it.

[SpoxLogic]

Er...ahve you been looking at the same thing the rest of the millions of us have?
1. "..the press respects McCain, but does not overlook his shortcomings". --this is a typo, right? I have yet to see the MSM take McCain to task for all his flip-flopping and "gaffes".

2. "...they are head-over-heals in love and can't imagine that he has any shortcomings". -- it's the new guy. He's like a breath of fresh air after being in a stank stale room. But, these are the same guys that would jump over any "gaffe" Obama makes and turn it into a mountain when it shouldn't even be a mole hill.

I see you wrote this early in the morning, so I will cut you some slack. It's obvious you hadn't taken your morning cup of coffee yet...and your meds.

[LTinCali]

I just read over the transcripts of Katie Couric with both Obama and McCain available on CBS website.

What I noticed is that all of Obama's questions were about his trip overseas. Not much mention of McCain at all, however, EVERY question posed to McCain was an opening for Obama bashing. Media bias, huh, McCain? Give me a break.

[nellie]

Riiiiiight. That's why whenever Ba rack makes a mistake, we hear about it for weeks on end. But when Mc Cain makes a mistake, it gets EDITED OUT OF THE BROADCAST. That media sure gives an unfair advantage to O bama!!!

[RS]

I've said this before and I'll say it again--it's all because the mainstream media is CORPORATE OWNED by the "Big Six" media conglomerates:

1. Time Warner
2. Disney
3. Viacom
4. CBS Corporation
5. News Corporation
6. General Electric

Remember: Corporate owned media will ALWAYS PROTECT Republicans and ALWAYS CRUCIFY Democrats.

[justwaitandsee]

I love message and will borrow it along with the petition link

[VOTER]

What is McCane, his staffers and the National Republican Party really ticked off about?

It isn't the MSM loving Obama because they know this isn't at all true. This is a GOP "Red Herring."

So what is it?

IT IS THE AMERICAN VOTERS AND THE GLOBAL POPULATION LOVE OBAMA!

VOTE OBAMA!

[4President]

Correction! I saw an interview, and Sen. McCain only thinks it is amusing, but he was clear to say that he is not complaining!

Just making it one of this weeks top campaign issues. Thank goodness someone is looking out for us.

[ObserverinVancouver]

Forgot - Andrea Mitchell this afternoon on Hardball was pretty amazing. She severely criticized Sen. Obama because, according to her, he would ignore Gen. Petraeus's recommendations and set his own policies for the military and then expect the military to carry out the same. You'd think he'd read the Constitution or something equally outrageous!

[ObserverinVancouver]

Sen. McCain is worried that his media sycophants will stop bringing him donuts with sprinkles and start bringing Sen. Obama bunches of organic arugula instead.

[Ides]

Rule number 1 of politics. No forced errors.

McCain has had several in the last couple of weeks. 1) Demanding Obama go to Iraq and then getting summarily ignored while the press follows him there. 2) Decide to criticize Obama's foreign policy experience, thus revealing you don't know there hasn't been a Czechoslovakia in over a decade. 3) Decide to criticize Obama again, revealing you have no idea where Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq are located.

Someone can make you look bad and you'll recover. But if you make YOURSELF look bad, you're screwed.

[mindlessmissy]

Jealousy ... It's a Disease ...

Hey McBush, start getting more exciting and maybe, just maybe, the camera itself will Not go to sleep while covering you ...

[IRepTheKing]

I guess his EXPERIENCE hasn't taught him what happens to candidates that trash the media. Not a good move Mr. McCain.

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

Jesus Christ on a crooked crutch, is this a Presidential Campaign or the Resting Pines Senior Center's production of High School Musical?

[ebanks84]

The PRESS is in love with their dollars and could care less about Obama. They are turncoats, misinformation freaks, and liars. We know how to get the truth and it has nothing to do with the PRESS, except Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow.

[ebanks84]

Everyone is in love with INTELLIGENCE for a change. We haven't had any in over 30 years. It's exciting, new, and fulfilling. To have someone who actually knows what they are talking about is a TREAT. Someone who talks plain english instead of washington garbage filled with smoke and mirrors.

The people are sick of the tired old political crew that Obama is very refreshing and new. That's why people love Obama.