The obvious answer is Sarah Palin, McCain’s out-of-nowhere pick for V-P. As we now know, from her troublingly successful convention speech and subsequent appearances on the stump with McCain, the Alaska governor is great at firing up the GOP’s true believers. Chuckle at her Obama jibes! Weep as she eulogizes the mythical American Heartland, where guns are welcome and elitists aren’t! (Conservative evangelicals, long a McCain weakness, seem especially receptive to Palin’s charms.)
But the last-minute selection of Palin also raised some questions. Is she experienced enough to be McCain’s successor? How much does she actually know about world affairs? Should her religious beliefs give voters pause? And what about that pesky ethics probe?
So the McCain camp made a decision. When the press dug into Palin, they would play the victim card, and play it hard. In the process, they’d boost attempts to woo disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters who think their candidate got a raw deal — from Obama, from Democrats, and especially from the press. They’d also have an excuse to keep Palin away from tough questioning, possibly for the duration of the campaign.
If that sounds too conspiratorial, consider how Carly Fiorina, the McCain advisor and former Hewlett-Packard head, spun the alleged victimization of Palin in a news conference on September 3. “One of the things I have been told by many, many Democrats over the past several months,” said Fiorina, “is how disappointed they were in their own party for not standing up against the sexist smears that Hillary Clinton endured. The Republican Party will not stand by while Sarah Palin is subjected to sexist attacks.”
Fast-forward to September 7. On Fox News Sunday, questioned aggressively by Chris Wallace, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis announced that Palin would be shielded from the press “until . . . the news media is going to treat her with some level of respect and deference.” (It’s since been announced that Palin will speak with ABC’s Charlie Gibson later this week — we’ll see if he’s suitably respectful and deferential.)
But Palin is less the cause of McCain’s newfound media hostility than a means to an end. On August 28, prior to Palin’s selection, Time published a Q-and-A titled “McCain’s prickly Time interview.” “For years,” the magazine noted, “John McCain’s marathon bull sessions with reporters were more than a means of delivering a message; they were the message. McCain proudly, flagrantly refused direction from handlers, rarely dodged tough questions, and considered those who did wimps and frauds. The style told voters that he was unafraid, that he had nothing to hide and that what you see is what you get.” In short, McCain used the press to create the persona that won him the GOP nomination.
During his conversation with Time, however, McCain acted like he was back in Hanoi. For example:
Q: There’s a theme that recurs in your books and your speeches, both about putting country first but also about honor. I wonder if you could define honor for us?
A: Read it in my books.
Q: I’ve read your books.
A: No, I’m not going to define it.
Q: But honor in politics?
A: I defined it in five books. Read my books.
...
Q: Do you miss the old way of doing it [i.e., interacting with the media]?
A: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
