Has The Press Sent McCain A Dear John?

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Mega-Media Trends

(AP Photo)

It's not a good sign when much of the discussion of your presidential campaign involves people asking whether or not it's dead.

But that's what's happening with John McCain, whose possible collapse as a viable candidate was the talk of media and political news junkies this weekend. On "Reliable Sources," the Chicago Tribune's Jill Zuckman talked with my Facebook friend Howard Kurtz about a "media death watch" for the former frontrunner:

"Well, on Friday, Senator McCain made his first public campaign appearance since the news broke that he was virtually out of money, that his two top campaign officials had left," she said. "And I don't think I've ever seen so many national political reporters in one place at this point in the cycle. They were all there. And the questions were, you know, 'Is there any way you're going to get out of the campaign?'"

Then there was that Saturday Washington Post piece tracking the struggles in the McCain camp, which came with the tagline "When a Campaign Implodes." On "Meet The Press," Tim Russert asked simply, "Is the campaign done?" (Said the panelists, more or less: No, yes, yes, yes.) Bob Schieffer, on "Face The Nation," wondered if McCain is going to make it to the first primary. Google news is full of stories about how McCain could be finished.

So the question now becomes: Can all the negative coverage actually play to McCain's advantage?

Before last week, his campaign was seen as sputtering, but it now seems to have hit rock bottom. And that primes a narrative-oriented press corps to start writing about how McCain has begun to turn the tide. "It's not going to take much for a 'McCain comeback' storyline to develop," says First Read. Stories are emerging about McCain's new stragegy – survival – and his shift from a frontrunner campaign to that of a spirited comebacker. The mainstream media does have a certain weakness for former "media darling" McCain -- and America does love a comeback story.

Still, it's a long shot. As Dan Balz pointed out on "Face the Nation," Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and John Kerry all came back to win their nomination. But even if a presidential candidate can get the media working for him, he still needs money – and a staff. "…you can't say this can't happen," said Balz. "But I think, when you look at the course of this campaign, this would be one of the most remarkable comebacks..Their view is that this is still an unstable Republican race, and it is. But boy, they've got such problems."

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by rich1620 July 17, 2007 6:09 AM EDT: McCain should be reconized for heading the senate investigation of Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon which resulted in their procecutions along with several corrupt politicians who were associated with Pres. Bush. For this heroic work Bush is not helping him with his campaign fund raising.

1999 ALABAMA HOPE CAMPAIGN::Lobbyist Abramoff funneled thousand of dollars from the Choctaw Indian through his sham organization %u201CFaith & Family Alliance%u201D whose front was Robin Vanderwall and the %u201CChristian Coalition%u201D under the direction of Executive Director Ralph Reed. These organizations laundered the money to paid for the producing and airing of prime time ads on all major Alabama TV and radio stations. They also ran full page newspaper ads. Ralph Reed solicited the help of James Dobson of "Focus On The Family" to oppose the Alabama lottery using his radio program. Letters were mailed to every household in AL. endorsed with Congressman Bob Riley%u2019s signature condoning the lottery in the name of Christianity.

So Abramoff got $4,000,000 from the Choctaw Indians, James Dobson and the AL. churches got used, Siegelman got sent to prison because HealthSouth paid off the $500,000 note, Riley became governor and high paying Alabama jobs are still being filled by out of state college graduates.; Reply to this comment


by ronmwanga July 17, 2007 2:20 AM EDT: Well, it is possible that McCain could come back but I think we can gag him with a fork-- he's done. Had he run as an Independent in this "Change Election," doing essentially what he did in 2000, then there would be no "felt need" for a Bloomberg. Unfortunately, McCain is governed by his family history in the Republican Party and would never -- ever leave.; Reply to this comment


by memekiller July 16, 2007 6:20 PM EDT: The lesson McCain learned during his 2000 primary fight with Bush is you need to preach like a maverick but practice like a cynic (i.e., a hypocrite, but we shant talk about that).

So, at exactly the moment McCain could have benefited from his prescient campaign against the partisanship and extremism that imploded his party, he remolds himself as just another vascillating, head-in-the-sand opportunist.

As with Lieberman, there have been a number of writers out there whom don't get invited on your shows yet have seen through these media darlings for years. Then again, that's probably why Kristol gets invited and they don't.; Reply to this comment


by phoenixandy July 16, 2007 4:06 PM EDT: I agree. It's way to early to write McCain's obituary. At the beginning of 1992 and 2004, I thought it was curtains for Bill Clinton and John Kerry. Both times I was wrong.

If McCain doesn't pull ahead between now and the Iowa Caucuses, he will have no one to blame but himself. Had he run like he did in 2000, he would still be the front-runner today. Instead, he's running as a product of the Bush administration and he's supporting an unpopular war.; Reply to this comment