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To the extent that Obama’s gotten a pass from the media, it’s because he’s a political phenomenon. McCain’s appeal is a lot more personal and durable. He served and suffered in war and his courage can’t be questioned — his bio is catnip to middle-aged, male political writers. Aside from that, he enjoys a glass, tells a good story, blows up when he’s angry, swears like a man — or like a journalist — and he likes our company. Dammit, he’s one of us! And those political writers remember that back in 2000, when everyone was younger and McCain’s original Straight Talk Express was hauling the most enthusiastic, idealistic candidate in the field, Bush stopped him with lies. So he’s owed.
Michael Tomasky gives a lot of space to McCain’s relationship with the media in his review of three new books on McCain in the June 12 New York Review of Books. The books aren’t particularly friendly — Tomasky says they argue that “while there has been much to respect in McCain in the past, there remain today only shards and vestiges of that man.” If that’s true — and I find myself not wanting to believe it because I’ve admired McCain enormously myself — Tomasky doesn’t expect the media to notice.
