You can criticize John McCain for a great many things. Media relations hasn't been one of them -- up until now.
Over the last eight years, McCain has taken pains to cozy up to the media. It proved to be a devastatingly effective strategy, as a tidal wave of glowing news reports allowed a broke McCain campaign to neutralize and overcome the immense cash warchests of Romney and Giuliani.
This relationship was McCain's most potent weapon against Barack Obama -- and his best chance of victory in November.
This week, John McCain did the unthinkable -- he threw his media allies under the bus for short-term political gain. Remember this decision well, for it likely marked the end of any hope John McCain had of winning the 2008 election.
It's no secret that the national press loves McCain. This video of a national AP editors' convention tells you all you need to know about McCain's cozy ties with the media -- or, as he's lovingly called them, "his base":
This alliance has been enormously useful for McCain. As gatekeepers of information, this small group of people controls what news most Americans receive -- and how they perceive it. A slip of the tongue can be turned into a campaign-altering disaster -- or ignored completely -- completely on the whims of a small group of reporters and editors. Exhibit A: The media maelstrom triggered by Wesley Clark's benign observation that getting shot down does not, by itself, qualify you to serve as president.
Imagine what would have happened had the media given John McCain's "Social Security is a disgrace" moment the same sort of treatment. It would have easily shattered McCain's hold on one of his key bases (the retired voter) and ended any hope McCain had of winning in November.
The media held its fire, letting the remark slip by relatively quietly.
But the alliance has been about more than downplaying McCain's gaffes. Through the press, McCain -- a tempermental politician with a penchant for flip-flopping -- has been repeatedly presented as a fearless maverick and reformer.
What McCain gets out of this relationship is obvious. What reporters get is a bit more subtle.
Bias born of the media's corporate overlords is a common theory -- one that's certainly true of Fox News, with a business model built on spoon-feeding conservatives a steady diet of distorted "news" and editorializing.
Overt political bias? Probably true for some, particularly Karl Rove's BFF, the AP's noxious Ron Fournier.
But it would be a mistake to apply these examples to the national media corps as a whole. The truth is far simpler.
The media covers for McCain because they like him.
McCain gave the media that which they crave the most -- open, unfettered access. Such access is the mother's milk of beat reporting... the lifeline that allows you to keep meeting the never-ending demand of your editors for impactful, breaking news.
But there was ego-stroking here as well. When a powerful political leader invites you out to his exclusive Sedona ranch for a weekend barbecue and treats you like his bestest buddy, you're going to take a liking to him. And while you may tell yourself that it won't influence your coverage, the subconscious decision has been made.
Perhaps, as in many close relationships, the ugly specter of jealousy finally raised its head. Media coverage of Obama's trip to Europe and the Middle East began to dominate. Much of it was respectful and favorable -- and Walnuts, figuring only he deserved such coverage, decided to teach the media a lesson.
Or maybe he figured throwing the media under the bus was a battle-tested Republican tactic that could be used to great effect. Whatever the motives, McCain turned on the MSM with a vengeance this week.
McCain's warning shot came Monday, when his handlers leaked e-mails from the New York Times asking for edits to a submitted op-ed piece. Anyone who's worked in the business knows this editing process is pretty standard. But the McCain camp took on an attitude of righteous indignation anyway, portraying themselves as victims of blatant bias and meddling by the Grey Lady.
As a PR tactic, it worked. It helped draw some attention away from Obama's triumphant Iraq visit, and gave McCain street cred with the conservative base, which loathes the Times.
McCain proceeded to burn other bridges. He embarrassed Bob Novak, using him to leak misleading information that a VP pick was coming soon. (Novak later called the move
"reprehensible.") He repeatedly spoke over Meredith Vieira during an NBC interview, refusing to let her ask follow-up questions while he plowed through prepared talking points. He began ditching scheduled meetings with his press entourage, citing scheduling conflicts.
And like a reckless gambler after a big score, McCain and the RNC finally pushed too far, launching an all-out assault on the media on Tuesday:
This might've worked well for any other Republican candidate. For John McCain, it was a fatal error.
If your greatest hope of winning is built on a relationship with the media -- and that relationship rests on a personal affinity between you and the reporters that cover you -- the worst thing you can possibly do is publicly embarrass the media.
To paraphrase an old saying, Hell hath no fury like a reporter scorned. And John McCain is now receiving the first taste of what's to come:
-- Howard Kurtz ("Is McCain's Age Showing?"): "He has been making a series of verbal slips -- invariably described as "gaffes" -- that are starting to ricochet from liberal blogs to the mainstream media." (All helpfully detailed by Kurtz later in the piece.)
-- Joe Klein ("McCain meltdown"): "This is the ninth presidential campaign I've covered. I can't remember a more scurrilous statement by a major party candidate. It smacks of desperation. It renews questions about whether McCain has the right temperament for the presidency. How sad."
-- Politico ("McCain's gaffes pile up"): "McCain's mistakes raise a serious, if uncomfortable question: Are the gaffes the result of his age? And what could that mean in the Oval Office?"
(H/t to Al Rodgers, who provides a great summary of the media's carpetbombing here.)
Translation: "Call us a bunch of assholes, will you? We'll show you what a media gang-tackle is really like."
The MSM-McCain alliance is now at an end... and, with it, McCain's best hope of winning the presidency.
The media piranhas have just started feeding. I, for one, will greatly enjoy the spectacle.