Is the McCain camp trying to embarass the media into submission?

[FVZA_Colonel]

Given the new attacks on the New York Times specifically, and the media in general, do you think that McCain and his people are trying to stop the deluge of reporting on their failures by making it look to the "Average American" that the media is biased against McCain, and thus cow the media back into submission?

That seems like the only comprehensible strategy behind their recent actions, however idiotic they may have been.

[featherman]

1. it's worked before... media rolls over and caves in

[FVZA_Colonel]

3. But will it work now?

I'd like to hope not, given the willingness to call "bull-shit" some in the media have had in recent weeks, but one cannot underestimate the need of the modern media to appear "objective."

[damntexdem]

6. And if not, the electorate may still buy the lie and ignore what the media says.

Either way, RW lies prosper.

[SuperTrouper]

2. It won't work this time. After The View unmasked McCain's lies

the MSM was embarrased. Furthermore, McSame attacked Mika as an "Obama supporter" and she is not happy. Too late for McCain, he turned the media against him, what an idiot..

[anonymous171]

4. If they stopped lying then the media would roll over as usual.

[damntexdem]

5. They're trying for media submission through any means at their disposal.

The 'liberal media' has been a long-time RW mantra to discredit any media oversight whatsoever. Hopefully, it won't work this time around.

[SDJay]

7. It'd be a foolish 'strategery'

Sure, it's worked for McCrap for years, and they actually did well in shielding Churchy Spice at first, but since then, the MSM has been absolutely pwned by those pillars of journalism that are the National Enquirer and The View. Ultimately, when an entity is driven by stock price above all else, losing credibility and getting scooped by these two 'forces' would put their integrity in question after a certain point, so they have no choice but to act as professionals journalists should for at least the time being. Let's also keep in mind that this economic disaster could turn on the MSM as well for not reporting on all of this nearly aggressively enough, so they'll need a scapegoat as well. Whom would they choose? Obama, who has no ties to any of this or McCrap, whose sticky fingers are all over this broken cookie jar? This, like almost everything else they've tried, will backfire IMHO. Just desperate flailing.

[wmbrew0206]

8. Probably a tactical decision

I find the timing interesting. The McCain campaign decided to go off on the NYT today, after the SNL skit about the NYT being out of touch is getting a lot of play. Coincidence?

[emulatorloo]

9. Not going to work this time -- read this article in POLITICO on their experience today with McCain

McCain camp criticism rife with errors
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13747.html

<snip>

Sen. John McCain’s top campaign aides convened a conference call today to complain of being called “liars.” They pressed the media to scrutinize specific elements of Sen. Barack Obama’s record.

But the call was so rife with simple, often inexplicable misstatements of fact that it may have had the opposite effect: to deepen the perception, dangerous to McCain, that he and his aides have little regard for factual accuracy.

<snip>

[stillcool]

10. Don't know, but it has the makings..

for a great skit on SNL.. "You Are In The Tank". The pimps on television have already shot their wad, and proven they are liars. I found it interesting when he blamed blogs for what the media was saying. He kind of made the point that we are the media. He's flailing around blaming everything and everyone for his misery, like he always does.

[ErinBerin84]

11. Joe Klein says that it's Schmidt's jump the shark moment

I think that moment came long long ago, but whatever..

http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/09/schmidt_jumps_the_shark.html

Schmidt Jumps the Shark
Joe Klein

Ben Smith fact-checks the McCain campaign's ridiculous conference call assault on the press. But it should be remembered that Steve Schmidt is doing this for two (nefarious) reasons:

1. he's hoping to work the refs: if he complains enough about press bias, we mainstream sorts will cower, cringe and try to seek false equivalences between the two campaigns.

2. the more time we spend covering this nonsense, the less we'll spend on the real issues in this campaign.

Sorry, Steve. Not buying.

[alcibiades_mystery]

12. Translation: Their lies are killing their internals...they're in panic mode

The McCain campaign is completely unhinged. As was correctly stated by many of us on this board (and incorrectly diagnosed by many, many others), the "lipstick" gate nonsense was a turning point. They flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami. Now they are in freefall, as McCain's sole remaining asset - his perceived 'integrity" - is increasingly called into question by all parties.

[Median Democrat]

13. Always Works For The GOP - They Complain, The Get A Free Pass

Its like turbo boost. Heck, the media has not even raised the Keating 5, yet the McCain camp claims Obama isn't being scrutinized? Please.