Obama’s On Vacation, McCain’s Press Office is…Silent
With Sen. Barack Obama vacationing in Hawaii, Sen. John McCain now has an opportunity -- one that will not likely come again before the November general
Jul 31, 2020172.3K Shares2.2M Views
With Sen. Barack Obama vacationing in Hawaii, Sen. John McCain now has an opportunity — one that will not likely come again before the November general election — to push its message to the public while the presumed Democratic nominee relaxes on the beach. So has the McCain campaign come out swinging this week? Not really. Much of the talk today has revolved around Obama’s new TV ad, in which the Obama camp responds to McCain’s "Celeb" commercial by calling McCain a celebrity — sort of the campaign equivalent of that classic schoolyard retort, "Oh yeah, you are!"
So far today, the McCain press office has sent only one email to reporters, when ordinarily it would have issued five or more by this time. That email simply contained McCain’s statementearlier today about the conflict in Georgia — which called for an expanded U.S. diplomatic effort, but otherwise reiterated much of his statementFriday on the same topic. The campaign has yet to announce a conference call with reporters — which allows the campaign to reinforce its message du jour, even if it is not newsworthy on its own.
Obama is expected to maintain a low profile while he’s on vacation. So the McCain campaign could "own" the media coverage this week if it wants — much like Obama owned the coverage with his trip to Europe and the Middle East. Today would have been perfect for launching a new TV ad or web video — anything to grab headlines. If McCain is not going to take questions from reporters, which would almost certainly get covered by the cable news networks not currently broadcasting the Olympics, his press office should at least be bombarding reporters with information. This silence suggests that the McCain campaign is not making the most of a unique opportunity.
Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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