Elisabeth Bumiller has a solid article in The New York Times today on John McCain's rough week, as he struggles for attention while the media is largely focused on Barack Obama's overseas trip:Senator John McCain's presidential campaign recovered from a near-death experience almost exactly a year ago, and political candidates stumble in and out of troughs all the time. But it is safe to say that Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is not having a spectacular week.
Most of the attention on McCain this week from the media has concerned whether he was being "ignored" by the press in favor of more Obama coverage. But a number of progressive bloggers have read the Bumiller piece and come away with a different take: The media's own "love affair" with McCain is over. At least for now,.
Firedoglake's Scarecrow:
Sure, it's tough to follow President 27%. But the fact is, whatever John McCain once was, campaigning against Obama has revealed McCain as an angry, resentful, often befuddled old man.
BarbinMD adds in her Daily Kos diary that McCain may have a point about focusing on domestic votes, but that our image abroad should not be ignored:
Does John McCain have a valid point? Or, could it be argued that while there aren't any electoral votes to be won in Germany, we do have many shared interests that need our attention? And given that Germany is a friend to our country, wasn't Obama's speech both necessary and appropriate?This is something I've been thinking about this week. McCain is essentially hoping for a tortoise vs. hare campaign. While Obama gets the center stage and big crowds, McCain is slowly massaging the Republican base while connecting with real voters in his more intimate town hall settings. As McCain aide Mark Salter put it:
"I think he's getting his message out -- go look at some of the local press and the local TV packages," Mr. Salter said. "It's John McCain on energy and the economy."
(On Thursday in Pennsylvania, The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre prominently featured Mr. McCain's comments in the state on Social Security; The Morning Call in Allentown covered Mr. McCain's stop at the grocery store, including his remarks that $4-a-gallon milk was putting a strain on American families.)
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