McCain Calls For 'Economic Surge,' Offers No Explanation
MARION, Ohio -- Sen. John McCain made a campaign stop in Jackson, Ohio yesterday Merillat Industries, a cabinet manufacturer. There, he adopted the language of the war in Iraq to describe his economic plan, calling for an "economic surge."
"What we need today is an economic surge. Our surge has succeeded in Iraq militarily. Now we need an economic surge to keep jobs here at home [and] create new ones. We need to reduce the tax burden on businesses [that] choose to make their home the United States of America. We need to open new markets to U.S. products. We need to reduce the cost of health care, and we need to end the out-of-control spending in Washington that's putting our debt on the backs of our children. Now's the time for action. When I'm president we are going to get it done."
As you can see from the quote, McCain offered no new proposals or details to go along with the new language -- it seems to just be a new term. This is a perfect example of the effectiveness of the McCain campaign's restriction of media access. McCain can roll out something new like this, and the traveling press, starved for new information to report -- particularly on a day like today, when most of the traveling press spent the bulk of the day on the bus, away from the candidate -- dutifully report a nice new sound bite. Ooh, an economic surge. That sounds tough. But because McCain did not take any questions, the press did not have an opportunity to ask him, well, what exactly is an "economic surge," and how does it differ from what you've already proposed? McCain gets his message out into the media, and he doesn't have to worry about facing any real questions. The strategy is working like a charm, and there's no reason to expect a change of course.
Comments:
Posted 08/07/2008 09:24am with
“This is a perfect example of the effectiveness of the McCain campaign’s restriction of media access.”
I am sorry, Mr. DeLong, but how is this any different from the disciplined, focused, and aggressive campaign Mr. Obama has been running for the last several months?
The fact of the matter is, Mr. McCain has been far more interactive with the press corps for the last several months, as it’s worked to his acute disadvantage. His many town hall meetings are simply blunders waiting to happen. And Q&A sessions inevitably drift off the intended message, and will put the person being questioned in the defensive. The success of Mr. Obama depends completely on his being able to speak his message, uncluttered by Q&A and so forth. His spectacular popularity is due much to the focused, energetic, and no-nonsense way his campaign has been run, i.e., he has been able to run the press corps and not the other way around.
All Mr. McCain & Co. are doing is copying what has been successfully done by Mr. Obama. You can’t possibly be suggesting that Mr. Obama has a patent on this, can you?
Posted 08/07/2008 04:26pm with
I certainly am not suggesting that. You are absolutely right that the McCain campaign is replicating Obama’s strategy for dealing with the press. I did not intend to dispute that, but simply illustrate the practical effect of the McCain camp’s new strategy.