Obama's On Vacation, McCain's Press Office is...Silent
With Sen. Barack Obama vacationing in Hawaii, Sen. John McCain now has an opportunity -- one that will not likely come again before the November general election -- to push its message to the public while the presumed Democratic nominee relaxes on the beach. So has the McCain campaign come out swinging this week? Not really. Much of the talk today has revolved around Obama's new TV ad, in which the Obama camp responds to McCain's "Celeb" commercial by calling McCain a celebrity -- sort of the campaign equivalent of that classic schoolyard retort, "Oh yeah, you are!"
So far today, the McCain press office has sent only one email to reporters, when ordinarily it would have issued five or more by this time. That email simply contained McCain's statement earlier today about the conflict in Georgia -- which called for an expanded U.S. diplomatic effort, but otherwise reiterated much of his statement Friday on the same topic. The campaign has yet to announce a conference call with reporters -- which allows the campaign to reinforce its message du jour, even if it is not newsworthy on its own.
Obama is expected to maintain a low profile while he's on vacation. So the McCain campaign could "own" the media coverage this week if it wants -- much like Obama owned the coverage with his trip to Europe and the Middle East. Today would have been perfect for launching a new TV ad or web video -- anything to grab headlines. If McCain is not going to take questions from reporters, which would almost certainly get covered by the cable news networks not currently broadcasting the Olympics, his press office should at least be bombarding reporters with information. This silence suggests that the McCain campaign is not making the most of a unique opportunity.
Comments:
Posted 08/11/2008 05:23pm with
Gee! Shouldn’t you be “The Washington Independent” and leave the political advocating to the candidates and their campaigns and surrogates? Or, are you worried that your golden boy is losing it? When Obama was traveling in Europe and the Middle East after having been goaded and baited to “travel abroad” McCain succeeded in proving that he could single-handedly trip himself in a spacey grocery store floor and self destruct. What are his campaign staff doing? Juvenile name calling and silly political ad production? Today, the totally absent candidate who is in low-key mode and absent from the scene has been grabbing the headlines. I am absolutely certain that the McCain campaign is not banking on their campaigning abilities to win in November. They are probably hoping on some cataclysmic event—an October surprise, Russia invading Georgia or an attack somewhere that will allow them to taut and burnish his “national security” credentials.
Posted 08/12/2008 12:10pm with
Do you ever wonder why so many people are supporting Barack Hussein Obama?
Could it be that this nation is becoming colorblind and does not care if a good person is black, white, red or tan?
Could it be that the American people don’t care if a person worships as a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, or Jew?
Could it be that people remember the scandals of the Clinton And Bush years?
Could it be that the American people know that if it was not for the Clinton’s filth and scandals that Al Gore would be completing his second term in office.
Could it be that the American people remember Bush and McCain looking into our eyes and saying, believe me there are weapons of mass destruction?
Could it be that the American people are shell shocked that over 4,000 precious lives have been lost fighting the wrong war in the wrong country against the wrong enemy?
Could it be that the American people realize that Carl Rove politics brought our nation to where it is today?