Reading The Pictures: Prompting A Look At The Early McNasty

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I'm glad WaPo ran this shot yesterday, for a number of reasons.

On the most basic level, it exposes the trappings of a typical campaign event, in this case, McCain's return to his high school alma mater. I can't recall, over the past four years, when I saw such a revealing shot of a teleprompter.

Where this shot goes a little deeper, however, is in its non-idealized allusion to the man remembered at Episcopal High School as "The Punk." Highlighting the teleprompter draws attention to how impersonal and highly-scripted McCain's self-described biographical tour has turned out to be. In someone with a healthier attitude and behavioral history, one would expect a more informal, personal and emotional connection to one's past. Instead, we witness events such as this one in Virginia, and one previously, at Annapolis, in which the talks are canned, the events are rote, and the candidate, beyond uncomplicated hat tips to his admiral father and grandfather -- goes mostly for cheap laughs at his own expense.

To get a sense of the rote-quality, and how dependent McCain was on the script at his old stomping ground, check out the ABC News video, most likely taken from one of those cameras we see in the back. The particular snippet captured on the teleprompter is interesting too. Maybe the selection was completely random. Or maybe, reflecting the way in which the press tends to run interference for him, this particular fragment is designed to make Mac seem more like he was the happy, well-adjusted child. It reads:

"I'm happy to be back at Episcopal, my alma mater, which I have many happy memories of, and a"

As a fragment, though, it also hints at the "real dope" which followed. In this case, the rest of the sentence went:

"...few that I'm sure former teachers, school administrators and I would rather forget."

McCain the 'Punk' Goes Back to School (ABC News with video)
McCain on trip down memory lane (BBC)
Learning About John McCain (CBS video)
Day In Photos - April 2, 2008 (WAPO)

(image: Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post, April 1, 2008. Episcopal High School. Alexandria, Va. via WAPO)

Follow Michael Shaw on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bagnewsnotes

Comments

[LightningJoe]

Watched another McCain campaign appearance on C-SPAN today. Trouble was, it was supposed to be a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting. The one where Petreaus and Ambassador Crocker came to cheer-lead the progress in Iraq.

McCain had a limited amount of time, as the other Senators also did, in which to ask Crocker and Petreaus probing questions that would hopefully provide the panel and the country with information on just what if anything is resulting, on the ground in Iraq, from the finally-waning "surge."

So what cogent and revealing questions did McCain ask, of the worthy Ambassador and General? None.

That's right: None, zero. Instead, McCain ran his mouth to his time limit in one more stump speech. True, the content of his speech was about pumping the progress in Iraq, in as partisan a fashion as possible, but that's what his stump speeches are about anyway, half the time.

He looked good, though!

----
Just say no, to tv.

[GrannyBgood]

I just finished watching McCain Speak today on Martin Luther King Day, 2008.
(The spin progresses as I write, so let me put my take down now.)

It was hard to miss the irony of McCain speaking on this day, in Memphis, at the very site of King's murder.
And seeing him on that balcony felt, well, just plain WRONG!

Oh yes, He admitted he was wrong and apologized about being against the MLK National Holiday back then, but he says he came to realize it, albeit too LATE.
....and while he said all the right things about Martin Luther, he also comes out of the very America that killed King, figuratively speaking.
Now that he would NON-figuratively send more men to be killed in the Middle East quagmire if elected, we must ask;
Are we to wait as long for him to realize he's also wrong about this war?

[nyboomer]

A man who flew a jet that dropped bombs on civilians he never saw and then as a consequence spent several years imprisoned and tortured by those on whom he dropped bombs is not exactly my hero. His behavior both in high school and at Annapolis proved who he thought he was. (Much like GW Bush whose father fixed all his stupid errors.)

I know that McCain suffered greatly at the hands of his captors. I also believe the civilians who were maimed by the bombs he dropped suffered greatly also. Are they celebrated as heroes?

Having seen McCain shift positions because he is desperate to get into office makes me queasy. Maybe I would behave in a like manner if I were in the same position but I would be ashamed of myself. I guess I lack the hunger he feels for power.

[ShyFrost]

I have read through the comments on this page and I believe that a good few missed the point of the article. I don't believe that Mr. Shaw has a problem with the use of teleprompters in general, he feels that if this is supposed to be a tour that is all about you revealing your self, then you should be able to do so without a teleprompter and I must agree.

[wayoutleft]

the teleprompter upper right is itself a dodge to draw attention from the ventriloquist crouching in front . mr magoo again invites us to contemplate the mythic origins ot our fearless leader, himself. mythic origins are very important to someone who insist pictures of himself are captioned "objects may be larger than they appear". mr magoo is trying to soften everybody up for the inevitable delivery of his medical records : four white vans full of boxed documents. but, seriously, this is how this game operates: the hapless students were probably told to ditch their jackets in order to make magoo look more authoratative and superior in his dark fascist suit.

[Counterglow]

Blaming a guy for using a teleprompter? Get real! Nothing would please the press more than to catch a candidate (any candidate) gapping out on a speech he knew perfectly well half an hour before. The pundits would be falling all over themselves to tell us how such a slip was symbolic of the candidate's inability to yadda, yadda, yadda.

I've done my share of public speaking, and I can tell you from direct experience that only an idiot goes on stage to deliver a high-stakes address or presentation without a Plan B.

[BishkekBuddy]

Yes, yes, yes.... all candidates use a teleprompter - some with better results than others. Big deal. But McCain was speaking at his alma mater - shouldn't he be able to speak 'off the cuff' at an event such as this? I have to say that what really hit me about this photo were the kids in ties.

[abdiel]

Ummm ---

I don't get the point of this article.

Old man McCain used a teleprompter, the first few introductory words were caught on camera, the following few were not, he made what he thought was an amusing self-deprecating joke in relation to his "the punk" moniker.

Is this a news story? i don't get it. Every bloody politician has pre-written scripts -- almost always written or co-written by others than themselves.

I tell ya,' this U.S. presidential campaign has become so totally absurd that something like this, which is so petty and meaningless in the total scheme of things is manipulated by writers like Mr. Shaw to seem as though something so profound and Earth shaking is revealed. I read the headline and clicked the link thinking that something important would be revealed. By the end of the article I found myself wondering, WTF!? McCain uses a teleprompter - like everyone, he has fond memories of his alma mater as well as recollections of rebellion - like almost everyone. What's the big deal?

Crimey, Mr. Shaw, was this a slow day for you, or do you really think you caught on to something important and profound with this? As someone searching for the later I can honestly say -- I'm disappointed as your article was neither.

[Counterglow]

Nicely said. I suspect the reason so many "journalists" concern themselves with triviality is that they wouldn't recognize a real news story if it jumped up and sank its fangs into their ass. And even if they recognized it, they wouldn't have a clue what to do with it.

[peterg76]

McCain is much more frightening when he goes off script.

[RumiSouth]

For historical perspective, recall that Ronald Reagan was the first president to use a teleprompter. His apparent reliance on memory caused millions of Americans to believe he was the most intelligent president ever -- "Wow! He had that whole speech memorized!"

[kdogz13]

Wait a minute... this is an article by an Obama supporter which criticizes McCain for using a teleprompter? Doesn't this strike anyone else as ridiculous?

Obama is the King of the Teleprompter - and deservedly so. He is very skilled with giving "prepared" speeches... (and much less-skilled when on his own - such as at press conferences and debates...)

so why criticize McCain for using a teleprompter?

[docofbb]

You're not paying attention. He was wonderful in his unscripted dialogue at West Chester PA last night. He is spectacular with prepared text, but much more human and clever without the teleprompter than either of his opponents.

[lboucher]

Obama is very adept at taking a sentence out of context or bending the truth to the point of breaking. He's a snake and unelectable in the general Presidential election.

[anelder]

Wow! Another master of the vitriolic. If only you were aware of how often your type of verbage had the opposite effect of what you desire. Not enough real stuff - just reducing to the basest dialogue.

[rrafiringa]

First you have to substantiate what you're talking about. I don't see that. If this were a lawsuit against Obama, your case would be thrown by a judge as frivolous.

[veracity]

umm... specifics, please. Don't you realize how Bushian, how karl rovian, you sound?
You can't find a SINGLE actual issue, policy, or idea that you can win on, so your entire campaign is SMEAR the opposition. Well, SMEAR & FEAR works in elections... the Repubs may have had to steal a few (thousands and thousands and thousands of) votes in 2000 and 2004, but it got them the White House, House, Senate, and two new 'justices' on the Supreme Court.

NOT ONE damn Dem. senator in 2000 had the courage or conviction to sign on to the Black Congressional Caucus demand for a SIMPLE congressional investigation into (massive) voter disenfranchisement in Florida in 2000. Even my Republican friends acknowledge that the election was stolen, but Dem senators cowered, they REFUSED to STAND UP FOR JUSTICE and fair counting of votes, because they were COWED by the right-wing media machine. And that was before Bush and Cheney assumed their dictatorial presidential powers.

So... what, again, is your complaint about "taking a sentence out of context"? Dems in 2000 REFUSED to stand up for one of their core constituencies (and thus sold out ALL their millions of voters)... they REFUSED to stand up for the rule of law and fair counting of votes... and now you want to parse one guy "bending a sentence" or "stretching the truth", and you can't even nail down a specific ?

[iswearington]

obviously.­..iboucher­...you would probably prefer a racist mississippian tlike charlie chaplin..er..er.. i mean john mccain...haily barbour or trent lott.john mccain has the same medical diagnosis as thomas eagleton...or any of the thousands of mentally disabled former POW s and other vietnam war veterans that now sleep on card board boxes under the bridges in citys all across this nation every night. ( devolving catratonic shutoff...­excaserbat­ed by severe regressive depressive neurosis..­.complicat­ed by acute post traumatic stress) mccain is getting a free pass because his daddy was an admiral..and the former slave plantation he was raised on had running water.if johnny mccain was any other mentally disabled vet who was tortured for 5 years by the NVA..he would... like thomas eagleton..have been disqualified from running for any political office years ago.now don't tell me that even the retarded american electorate would be stupid and for obviously racist reasons...put a mentally disabled..­.shell-sho­cked war veteran in the whitehouse.they did elect ullyses s. grant...who stayed drunk all day long but that was in the 1800 s.everyone drank all day long..and even morphine and opium was legal then. then

[Hallucinocynic]

Well, it's obvious that a lot of HuffPosters are starting to focus on Crash. The beautiful thing about this candidate is that so much is going to continue to come out - information that isn't even necessarily damning, just down right entertaining. Oh, don't worry, there will be plenty of DAMNING information to be shared, parsed, defined and digested.

We haven't even started to redissect his relationship to Charles Keating yet. Crash is a walking billboard for misstarts and bungling. This 'tour' really kicks things off, though. Man, if this is the kind of forward thinking representative of his campaign team I'll bet both the BO and HRC camps are fervently praying that they get the shot at this guy. I sorta feel sorry for those who will be compelled to support Crash on HuffPo.

[annieR]

With the many crises this country is experiencing, John McCain is on a nationwide tour to talk about himself! One thing he's omitting about himself, however, that should worry every voter is the details of what he's doing to control his violent temper. He says he's working to control it, but doesn't say what that means. Is he talking to his wife about it? Is he taking meds to control it? Is he in counselling? This is not a private matter. It very much concerns the American public.

[Cubancoffee]

If GWB got away with not having to talk about being a cokehead and boozer, why should McCain have to talk about his temper?

[jimpryor99]

All the candidates use teleprompters. I guess only the Republicans get called out for it though.

[PhDiva]

I agree. I'm a hardcore democrat, but this is unfair.

[TXfemmom]

Yes, but the campaign is promoting this as unaided, John being John, and doing it off the cuff.

THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE.