Thursday, October 16, 2008

(Politics)

"Never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel," I think Mark Twain said.

You can always tell when a campaign is falling apart because they start complaining about their coverage. Whether or not the coverage is biased, this is a losing strategy because part of your job as a politician is to sell yourself to the media. If your coverage is not good, it's really your fault.

The worst thing you can do though is to start blaming the media. This just pisses them off. Then their editors pick the worst possible pictures of you. I am sure there were pictures of John and Cindy McCain where she did not look like Zombie Barbie and he did not look like Wacky Gramps. But the LA Times didn't use'em.

But by the point this picture was taken, John "My Head Is About to Explode, You Bastard!" McCain had pretty much put a stake in the heart of his campaign, so I guess it won't affect the outcome too much...

Labels: Politics

11:22 AM

6 Comments:

I'm curious to know what you think about the Plumber Joe stuff? I've been reading some stuff that makes me thing he could have been a plant, but I know there's a strong possibility that it's just conspiracy theorists.

Thoughts?

By  Andrew Kosarko - Screenwriter, at 12:26 PM  

Based on some of the things the McCain campaign has let slip, it certainly sounds as if he was coached. He also appears to already own several businesses, and he may be related to Charles Keating's son-in-law.

At any rate he is certainly not an "undecided" voter.

What interests me is how, if it was a setup, Obama seems to have been alert to the possibility. He took 4 minutes to argue with the guy in a respectful way, clearly aware he was being filmed. And he remembered the conversation pretty well.

Obama's only made one technology related slip-up in this entire campaign -- making that "cling to their guns" comment in San Francisco not realizing that there might be a Republican mole with a cell phone camera in the crowd. McCain has made dozens -- most recently slamming ACORN when ACORN can YouTube video of McCain complimenting them two years ago.

By  Alex Epstein, at 12:38 PM  

The biggest fallacy is the whole `liberal media' thing. At one point, that may have been true, but I would never consider the American media more liberal than conservative. If there was a major network or news channel that was even remotely as liberal as Fox is conservative, their corporate parent would shut them down. That's why there can't be the liberal bias many conservatives claim, they're all owned by major corporations who don't share that liberal view.

In Canada, last time I checked, the National Post was about as right as you can get in Canada. And only right wing conspiracy theorists would consider the Globe all that left leaning.

As for the Joe the Plumber stuff, I don't know why some ignorant possible racist is being listened to at all. Obama did blow it when speaking to him initially, but Joe's mind was obviously made up well before he even met Obama. And to think that McCain is going to be any better for middle class workers and small business owners than Obama is laughable.

By  Tim W., at 12:46 PM  

The media-hate has been part of Republican talking points for a long time. That talking point has been used less this political season, but its not surprising to still see it around.

As for Plumber Joe, I haven't seen any evidence that he's a plant by the McCain campaign. It seems more like Joe was a Republican to begin with, and tried an ambush complaint on Obama; one which McCain tried to use last night. How success was he, I'll leave to Factcheck.org

By  SeanM, at 12:51 PM  

McCain committed campaign suicide about five different ways last night. But the whiny complaints about his coverage were the worst part. You're right, it's all over for him now. The media's going to crucify him. I can't wait for the Daily Show / Colbert Report takes on the debate.

By  Atkins Gal, at 2:01 PM  

"Whether or not the coverage is biased, this is a losing strategy because part of your job as a politician is to sell yourself to the media. If your coverage is not good, it's really your fault."

I don't believe the first sentence is true. The second one I'm sure isn't.

By  Dave Hunter, at 3:24 AM  

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