Turning a Weakness Into a Strength
Well, that was fast.
Within a day of the New York Times piece on the vague possibility that anonymous aides to John McCain may have suspected he might possibly appear to have a potentially intimate relationship with a lobbyist (whew), the McCain camp had not only torn the article to shreds, but rallied conservatives to their side to aid in the defense.
This was stunning work by the McCain camp, who have known about the possibility of the story since November, and came out totally prepared to shoot it down. Jonathan Martin at Politico has a great article up to this effect:
Jonathan Martin - February 21st, 2008 “We wanted to be fast, forward-leaning and as open and transparent as possible,” said a McCain aide involved in the effort.
Craig Shirley, a public relations consultant working for McCain, called conservative media critic Brent Bozell—a McCain skeptic. Bozell, who heads the media watchdog group, Media Research Center, then issued a statement ripping the Times while defending McCain. Shirley’s firm sent that criticism, along with comments from Pat Buchanan, out to all conservative contacts, ranging from radio hosts to producers to bloggers. As one of the first conservative leaders to come to McCain's defense, Bozell provided ideological cover to others, including morning talk show host Joe Scarborough—another McCain skeptic—to support McCain and go after the Times.
It's worth a read.
One might think that every shot at a candidate, even if its discredited, can harm the candidacy in question. Often, this is correct; even raising these issues in people's minds can be enough to make them doubt a candidate's sincerity and ethics...especially when that candidate is running largely on their unimpeachable integrity, as McCain is.
However, when the story is discredited this quickly, and this thoroughly, it can clearly help its intended target. The NY Times' piece may have unwittingly made a martyr out of McCain, and the fact that his reputation can so easily deflect the throwing of such a cheap elbow makes it look all the stronger as a result.
» February 22nd, 2008
|
|
Calendar
More Entries
Blogroll
Instapundit
Andrew Sullivan
Tom Maguire
Decision '08
Patrick O'Keefe
Categories
Blogging
Democrats
Economy
Elections '04
Elections '06
Elections '08
Entertainment
George W. Bush
Iraq
Media
Miscellaneous
Republicans
Social Security
Supreme Court
Technology
War on Terror
Email Me
|
