Say Cheese! But Watch for the Applesauce.

[babylonsister]

Say Cheese! But Watch for the Applesauce.

McCain is losing the war of the photo ops. Even his aides say the campaign has to improve.
Khue Bui for Newsweek

snip//

The campaign's big photo op of the week turned out to be a visit to a supermarket in Bethlehem, Pa.—where McCain was photographed in front of a display of processed cheese. As the candidate roamed through the store, his campaign's lanky cameraman knocked over a shelf of Mott's applesauce. The jars skittered across the floor past the senator's feet. When he paused to take questions from reporters, he was briefly drowned out by an announcement on the store's PA system.
Vote for Barack Obama :rofl:

All week, McCain aides had been complaining about what they saw as the media's obsession with the Obama trip. They were also unhappy about the thin attention they were receiving. Even Fox News broke away from live coverage of the senator's town-hall meeting to follow the plight of Lil' Smokey, a black bear cub rescued from the California wildfires.

Yet some McCain advisers privately concede the candidate's troubles are not entirely the media's fault. Since capturing the GOP nomination this spring, McCain's campaign has fought to gain its footing and to find a consistent message that defines why he should be elected. It hasn't helped that McCain has resisted pleas from his aides to cut back on the visually dull town-hall meetings he loves and submit to carefully choreographed events in grander settings, where the pictures tell the story. The senator has a deep distaste for the artifice of modern media-driven campaigns—all this business about standing in precisely this spot and reading precisely this line off a teleprompter exactly the same way a dozen times a day.

His staff can spend weeks organizing an elaborate campaign appearance, only to have McCain ignore his stage directions. A stop at a home-heating-oil plant in New Hampshire last week went awry when McCain stood in the wrong place against staff advice and took questions in front of a bright white oil truck. The result: harsh, washed-out pictures of the candidate. At a press conference earlier this month, McCain aides ordered reporters not to turn to look at the senator as he walked to the microphones, fearing he would catch sight of a familiar face and start talking before he reached the photogenic backdrop.

more...:nopity:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/148959

[Cha]

1. Couldn't happen to the current most deserving hack.

"Yet some McCain advisers privately concede the candidate's troubles are not entirely the media's fault. Since capturing the GOP nomination this spring, McCain's campaign has fought to gain its footing and to find a consistent message that defines why he should be elected. It hasn't helped that McCain has resisted pleas from his aides to cut back on the visually dull town-hall meetings he loves and submit to carefully choreographed events in grander settings, where the pictures tell the story. The senator has a deep distaste for the artifice of modern media-driven campaigns—all this business about standing in precisely this spot and reading precisely this line off a teleprompter exactly the same way a dozen times a day."

Too bad the Arizona Senator doesn't have a deep distaste for the bile he spews 24/7.

[babylonsister]

3. Sure he hates artifice; if that's true, what's this about (from the same article)...

Some polishing is already underway. New day-to-day campaign boss Steve Schmidt has brought in White House staging pros to help brighten up the dreary, underlit events. One is Bob DeServi, a former NBC cameraman who left television to work for the White House and is renowned in the business for his obsessive attention to lighting. When Bush gave a speech in New York for the first anniversary of 9/11, DeServi stationed massive floodlights on barges to dramatically illuminate the Statue of Liberty behind him. Greg Jenkins, a skilled Bush advance man, is now working full time to create camera-friendly backdrops for McCain's events.

Instead of standing alone onstage, McCain now speaks surrounded by supporters, as Obama often does. When he takes questions during a town-hall meeting, he has been instructed to approach the audience so they're in the shot. And McCain speaks less from a teleprompter—something he hates doing and has yet to master. Instead, he has memorized his remarks to make his delivery more natural—and to help him stay "on message."

[Cha]

4. Busted! mccain loves "artifice" of all stripes and

never met an hypocritical situation he couldn't warm up to.

A writer will have a field day after the election listing all the john mccain Hypocricy Alerts in a very long book.

[rurallib]

7. "artifice" - have you ever seen a more fake smile than his?

And he smiles at all the wrong places. I mean if somebody told him Cindy had died he'd have that same schmucky smile on his face.

[minnesota_liberal]

2. Cleanup in Aisle 3

Some klutz knocked over the applesauce.

[donco6]

5. All I can think of is Dukakis in the tank.

Juxtaposed with McCain in front of the cheese aisle. Although the "Fudge Haus" was pretty close.

[4themind]

6. And...the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o-mX7TG6-4&feature=related