Free Ride - John McCain and the Media
Free Ride - John McCain and the Media
New Chapter - How the media has covered McCain since Free Ride went to press
John McCain is now the presumptive presidential nominee of his party, a position that is accompanied by increased scrutiny and skepticism from the nation’s political press. Or at least that’s what ordinarily happens. But as we know by now, the rules are different for John McCain. Just a few months ago, McCain had cratered in the polls, and few thought he could bounce back. Yet there was one group of people who had not only the desire but the ability to give McCain the boost he needed, just when he needed it.
The point that began McCain’s resurgence came around the Iowa caucuses. As McCain seemed to be staging a comeback, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham declared it “good news for all of us, whatever our politics.” Chris Matthews waxed poetic: “There’s something genuine here, something selfless, even quietly grand in his campaign.” Matthews predicted that McCain would win 18 percent in Iowa, making him “a big hero.” Chuck Todd noticed the obvious: “The media does seem to be ready to will John McCain out of Iowa.”
And so they did, despite the actual results. Many may have forgotten by now that the Iowa contest was actually won by Mike Huckabee, but the media proclaimed McCain — who came in fourth place, with 13 percent of the vote — the actual winner. “A fantastic night for John McCain,” said the Politico’s Mike Allen. Tim Russert immediately booked McCain, and not Huckabee (or second-place finisher Mitt Romney, or third-place finisher Fred Thompson), to be the guest on that Sunday’s Meet the Press. Matthews seemed to sum up the media’s thoughts about the senator in a January 28 interview: “Senator McCain, you know you’re in my heart.”
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