Jay Carney reveals McCain meltdown/strategy

CoffeeCat

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Thu Sep-04-08 12:50 PM
Original message

Jay Carney reveals McCain meltdown/strategy

Edited on Thu Sep-04-08 01:30 PM by TwoSparkles

Jay Carney, the Washington Bureau Chief for "Time" magazine was just on MSNBC, discussing his
recent encounter with John McCain.

McCain sounds like he's in the process of a complete meltdown.

Carney has been around for a long time. He's not a showboat. He really is a true "journalist."
He used to be on the McLaughlin group and he was always dignified and very reasonable.

Carney described a recent meeting meeting with McCain, in which an interview with McCain would
take place.

A bit of back story--Carney mentioned that he and McCain have had a long, friendly relationship.
When Carney was first starting out, McCain opened doors for Carney and told him he could have
access to Washington meetings and he actually said to Carney, "You can go into any meeting with me,
unless someone else kicks you out."

Carney said he boarded McCain's plane and (this is a direct quote), "McCain was like something out of
the 'Body Snatchers.'"

Carney said he sat down to interview McCain, and he started with some "softball questions" and McCain
curtly told Carney to "read my books" and that "all of those answers were in there".

Carney went on to day that McCain was, "startlingly different for someone who used to interact with the media
so easily," and he added, "John McCain was qualitatively different. He's clearly decided that the enemy is
the media."

Carney said that a McCain aid launched an attack against Carney this morning, "at the suggestion that Sarah
Palin would have to answer some questions, and the American people want to know that she is capable of
answering questions."

Wow. So this is how McCain is going to play it. He's making the media the enemy right when Palin is
being introduced to the American public and when many new stories will come out about her.

After all--McCain didn't appropriately vet Palin. He was incompetent in his hasty choice of her, and
now he knows that the dirt on her is going to be dumped in truckloads. That's what he's really angry
about and he's positioning the media as the bad guy--and Sarah Palin and his campaign as the victims.

In my opinion, this signals that John McCain is fit to be tied about what he knows is coming down the pike.

You don't shut out the media when you have a great candidate that you want to tout and celebrate. You
open the doors and foster relationships with the media--when you know you've got an amazing candidate
that the people will love--once they get to know her.

Man...this is really going to get good people. Pass the 'corn. :popcorn:

(edited to add video clip of Jay Carney on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" today--clashing heads
with McCain mouthpiece, who clearly demonstrates that McCain' angle on this is that
Palin doesn't have to talk with the media. Oy vey). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26543853#26543853