McCain campaign spokesperson Brian Rogers recently said "We’re running a campaign to win. And we’re not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it." Rogers was responding to accusations that the campaign was sinking to new lows with its fabrications about earmarks, bridges to nowhere, and lipstick-wearing pigs. But the statement rings even truer now, as McCain appears to be going to bizarre lengths to avoid any chance of real public scrutiny.
First he kicked the press pool off the Straight Talk Express in an apparent effort to avoid any unscripted blurtings; then the campaign made Palin comically inaccessible to reporters (aside from the few cringe-inducing TV interviews we’ve seen so far). Now McCain is playing games with the debate schedule. It’s message control taken to absolutely absurd levels, the goal of which seems to be the creation of a one-way beam of disinformation. And to use Palin’s term, anyone — even former allies — who calls that beam into question is a "hater."
This is not the way democracy is supposed to work.
Meanwhile, I see that both the bailout negotiations and Washington Mutual have collapsed. Friday should be fun.