Earlier today Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis held a media call. The main purpose, as aptly summarized here, was to call out the mainstream media and in particular the New York Times which Schmidt labeled “150% in the tank for the Democratic candidate” and excoriated as “not by any standard a journalistic organization.” But the attack was really broader than just that, as they dared the media to investigate and report on Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko, and Joe Biden’s lobbyist son. One can wonder if it is wise, or if it will help–but they do of course have a point about the imbalance in reporting.
The effort was clear to either cajole the media into fairer reporting or to discredit the media coverage. On a related note, Hugh Hewitt asked about the “viral attacks” on Sarah Palin, which the Right blogosphere is suggesting came from an ad firm linked to David Axelrod. The McCain advisors used as a launching point to condemn the “fierce campaign of intimidation” which they claim the Obama team is waging on Stanley Kurtz and other journalists who are probing Obama’s past.
I did, after much of the fireworks were over, ask two questions. On whether the McCain camp held the Obama team responsible for the decision to disinvite Sarah Palin to the Iran rally, Schmidt said that he hopes they “would not stoop so low” as to politicize the issue of Iranian acquistion of nuclear weapons. He termed the cancellation “unfortunate” without assigning direct blame.
I also asked if McCain’s objections to the Paulson plan (i.e. the plan needs more accountability, transparency, oversight, controls on executive compensation) were any different from those expressed by Barack Obama. They skirted a direct response as to what Obama had said, but came back to the leadership issue which they termed “abdication” by Obama — e.g. 130 “present” votes in the Illinois state sentate, no hearings on the Senate subcommittee which Obama chaired on Afghanistan, etc. They also hammered their argument that last week McCain had come up with a “specific plan” for a Mortgage and Financial Institutions Trust while Obama had only conferred ” with a couple for Federal reserve members.”
Bottom Line: Wow. There is a lot of downright antagonism there toward the MSM. Moreover, there is an obvious plan now afoot: spend the next 43 days “educating” the public about Barack Obama and making this about leadership. Will it work? Perhaps, but it may be the only realistic counteroffensive McCain has available in a hostile media environment and a collapsing economy.
