Study: McCain finally getting almost as much media coverage as Obama
posted at 11:40 am on August 5, 2008 by Allahpundit
Send to a Friend |
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
How’d he do it? By running ads about … media coverage of Obama!
For the first time since this general election campaign began in early June, Republican John McCain attracted virtually as much media attention as his Democratic rival last week.
Barack Obama was a significant or dominant factor in 81% of the campaign stories compared with 78% for McCain, according to PEJ’s Campaign Coverage Index for July 28-Aug. 3. Not only was that a high water for McCain in the general election season (his previous best was 62% from June 30-July 6). The virtual dead heat in the race for exposure between the two candidates also marked the first time his weekly coverage had even been within 10 percentage points of Obama’s total. Indeed, in the eight weeks since early June when the general election contest began, 79% of the stories have significantly featured Obama, compared with 55% for his Republican rival…
In some ways, the media’s soul searching over its own role, and the resulting spike upward in coverage of McCain, were perhaps predictable. This had happened before, back during the primaries between Obama and Hillary Clinton. The week of Feb. 25-March 2, after Clinton complained about a pro-Obama bias and cited a Saturday Night Live skit to make her point, the press spent considerable time examining the possibility it was being unfair. And it followed that the next week, Clinton generated more coverage than her Democratic rival, reversing a trend of several weeks when Obama had been the top newsmaker.
If the McCain camp was trying to force the press to recalibrate and rethink, in other words, there was reason to imagine it might have an effect.
Indeed. The only subject the press finds more fascinating than Obama is itself; to the extent McCain’s ad team was trying to leverage that narcissism to increase their coverage, they’re brilliant. Karl (formerly of PW), who passed along the link, speculates that the spike in airtime explains the sudden dip in Obama’s polls, which is probably true but worries me even so. The success of the ads will tempt McCain to continue to run as Not Obama and I think it’s exceedingly difficult for a “Not” candidate to win, even against an opponent who’s widely disliked. (Ask Rick Lazio.) Remember, arguably Obama’s biggest weakness is that he’s an unknown quantity, a fact recognized again just this morning by both David Brooks and Alex Castellanos and magnified by each new damaging flip-flop. The more McCain submerges his own brand in a Not Obama message, the more he becomes a de facto unknown quantity and the less disadvantageous Obama’s weakness becomes. If we arrive at November and the Maverick image has been reduced to “the guy who’s running against the other guy,” we’re cooked for sure. In fact, that’s probably why McCain’s polls haven’t risen much the past week even as Obama’s have sunk. Exit question: Is Team Maverick planning to rebuild their brand? Watch the new ad and see.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
McCain is only getting media coverage because Obama is accusing him of racism. If McCain were just presenting his platform like he normally is, something Obama is incapable of doing, he’d be a ghost.
MadisonConservative on August 5, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Voters need to be reminded that McCain has gone after EVERYBODY. That’s a good start.
tree hugging sister on August 5, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Looks like Team McCain is attempting to even the score against Obama, before rebuilding its brand (as you pointed out).
amerpundit on August 5, 2008 at 11:44 AM
I’m not so worried about McCain submerging himself in a vat of Not-Obama.
The positive reason is McCain has history that, should Joe Sixpack decide to do a little reading, is easily discoverable.
The negative reason is the gigantic windbag that is McCain is unsinkable…
Mew
acat on August 5, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Aw. Poor Rick Lazio. I often wonder how different the world would be today if Giuliani had stayed in the race and beaten Hillary.
jimmy the notable on August 5, 2008 at 11:44 AM
This isn’t Obama’s or the media’s fault. If you want the media to cover you then you have to do something worth being covered.
ninjapirate on August 5, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Check Drudge. McCain won the Sturgis Bike Rally vote.
Wethal on August 5, 2008 at 11:50 AM
The problem is not only that McCain is possibly sinking into a ‘Not’ candidate, but that he will be widely disliked as well as people discover his record from the last 8 years and decide that he pretty much sucks and can’t be trusted. The only hope McCain has is the number of people that would rather stay handcuffed to him is higher than the number of us who would rather chew our own arm off than vote for him.
austinnelly on August 5, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Seems to me that McCain and team have figured out that the way to get to the One is through humor. Not huge guffaws but subtle, ironic humor. By making ‘gentle’ fun of him they are pointing out his arrogance and inexperience and getting the attention that they had failed to generate previously. Personally I thought the tire gauge idea was brilliant. And we all enjoy a good chuckle now and then.
dustoffmom on August 5, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Drudge also reporting that debate moderators will be Gwen Ifill and Jim Lehrer of PBS, Tom Brokaw of NBC and Bob Schieffer of CBS. No Foxnews. Couldn’t the McCain campaign hold out for one?
Ah yes, Schieffer. I recall him from 2004. His idea of a tough question to Kerry was, “Isn’t it time for a raise in the minimum wage?” “Why, yes, Bob. I’m glad you asked…[on to Dem platform tlaking points].
Wethal on August 5, 2008 at 11:55 AM
Like, for instance, what? Run for president? Shouldn’t that be enough for an ethical journal, to present both sides of the aisle when there are only two candidates?
Tennman on August 5, 2008 at 11:55 AM
McCain is going to all the right places ;)
http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/08/04/mccain-rallies-bikers-at-sturgis/
trailortrash on August 5, 2008 at 11:55 AM
McCain is as boring as watching moss grow. His TV visuals are horrible; he’s just not camera friendly. Even when the press was his “base” his coverage was not all that.
Compare that to young, vibrant, articulate, schmoozy Obama. You have your answer…at least as far as television goes. Obama looks way better on screen (and he is just a little more willing to orally copulate members of the press).
Give Cindy McCain more airtime. Let her talk about beating her drug habit. She could do a duet of “Rehab” with Amy Crackhouse.
The Race Card on August 5, 2008 at 11:56 AM
Wow. A choice between a candidate who sucks and can’t be trusted or one that is arrogant and inexperienced. What to doo… what to doo….
wise_man on August 5, 2008 at 11:56 AM
This campaign is farcical like Cirque de Soleil with fat people.
The Race Card on August 5, 2008 at 11:57 AM
The new advertisement is interesting. It’s basically the same theme Mitt Romney used in the primary. I wonder how it will play given McCain’s long history in the senate?
Pointing out McCain’s ‘maverickyness’ is a risk, since that’s what so many of us don’t like about him.
Slublog on August 5, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Riiiiiight.
MadisonConservative on August 5, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Yeah, I remember that well. Back when Chris Matthews so rightly claimed that ‘McCain’s base’ was the far left wing media just like himself. Sigh….. And now, Chris Matthews gets a stiffy when he watches Obama and calls it a thrill that goes up his leg. Poor McCain. Even when Chris Matthews was his base, he never got a stiffy when watching McCain. Poor bastard, can’t win for losing.
wise_man on August 5, 2008 at 12:01 PM
Drudge uses a nice photo of McCain and the mass crowd he is now getting, while HA uses Times articles with GULP.
WoosterOh on August 5, 2008 at 12:04 PM
This from drudge,
“FLASH 8/5/08 11:31:52 AM ET: Presidential debate moderators: Jim Leherer of PBS, Tom Brokaw of NBC, Gwen Ifill of PBS and Bob Scheiffer of CBS… Developing…
Anyone think the republicans will ever get the balls to stand up to the msm? Even here at HA leftist propagandists get kudos from the moderators as seen in the post on ej dionne. I’ve read his articles, seen him on tv and heard him on the radio. He is nothing but an apologist for the demofascists. The left is the enemy of America and someday “conservative” pundits may figure that out instead of being charmed out of their objective pants in the green rooms of cable tv.
peacenprosperity on August 5, 2008 at 12:07 PM
I think Tom Brokaw and Bob Scheiffer will good moderators (better than Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews, at least).
terryannonline on August 5, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Assuming they don’t drop the questioning of Barack to the Barbara Walters level (”If you were a tree, Senator Obama, what kind of tree would you be?”), having people like Scheiffer, Brokaw and Lehrer as moderators isn’t the worst thing for McCain. Based on Obama’s non-teleprompter answers of late, unless McCain actually does have a senior moment on stage, there’s going to be a whole lot of “uhmm-in’” going on with the Democratic nominee, and it won’t be something they can blame on the evil Fox News and Brit Hume’s biased questioning.
jon1979 on August 5, 2008 at 12:21 PM
I clicked on the link and watched McCains new ad. I thought it sucks.Sounds like Obama, going after the oil companies and the drug companies. Damn McCain, wise up!
2theright on August 5, 2008 at 12:22 PM
Gwen Ifill is pretty darn terrific herself.
tree hugging sister on August 5, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Gee it only took a year of campaigning for the McCain camp to figure out that the press is about as self absorbed as a politician?
Snake307 on August 5, 2008 at 12:27 PM
The strategy is working because he is not only not Obama, he is also not McCain. The Maverick brand is puffer fish poison to the base.
America is less than fired up about either of these a$$hats.
Valiant on August 5, 2008 at 12:30 PM
OT: Obama to vacation in Hawaii and raise cash during Ft. Hood townhall, for which he had a “scheduling conflict.” HT: Redstate.
Wethal on August 5, 2008 at 12:37 PM
Not so at all on some media. Not even close. At least 10 to 1 Obama and increasing.
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 12:45 PM
McCain should just shut up and let Obama talk himself out of the election. Obama fosters the same arrogance as Peloser telling dims to represent their constituents instead of taking orders from her. Throw the talking cadaver, Reid, into the mix and you have a nauseating situation that “suspends belief.”
volsense on August 5, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Johnny Mac, Just Whose Side Are You On?
With a history filled with cursing, (”F*ck you” to John Cornyn, “A$$hole to Pete Domenici, “F*cking jerk to Charles Grassley, screaming and throwing temper tantrums at fellow Republicans over the years, John McCain seems to save his admiration and glowing praise for Nancy Pelosi and Al Gore.
On Nancy Pelosi, McCain was positively gushing with compliments and niceties:
What did he say?? Pelosi “an effective leader”, and an “inspiration to millions of Americans”?? Someone who pretty much practices Socialism gets this kind of praise and gushy sentiments from the GOP PRESIDENTIAL candidate, while cursing out Conservative leaders like John Cornyn.
And it didn’t end with Pelosi. Without skipping a beat, McCain went on to praise Al Gore for HIS leadership on the phony baloney Global Warming / Climate Change hysteria:
I guess it’s true that like minds stick together. This won’t go over well with the base, which John McCain doesn’t seem to care about anyway:
McCain is probably in the best shape of his life these days with all the running to the left he has been doing.
- Michael “A.J. Sparxx” (World-Class Athlete Professional Wrestler and blogger at Conservatives with Attitude!)
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 12:55 PM
It’s not just that Maverick is gaining on Obama in the volume of coverage; it’s also the storylines of the coverage. At the PEJ link, you can see that the top two stories were “Campaigns Using the Race Card?” and “Campaign Ads,” both of which probably favor McCain in terms of voter reaction. There was almost as much coverage of whether Obama is being presumptuous as there was of the European trip generally. And there was more coverage asking whether McCain is going too negative, which reinforces the coverage of his ads.
Also, as MB4 @ 12:25 claims some media are still covering Obama 10-to-1, here’s a link to the sources used in the study. And so long as the methodology is consistent, the trend of McCain getting more coverage would hold up, as the same sources are tracked weekly.
Karl on August 5, 2008 at 1:02 PM
No, he’s no longer an unknown anything, just because the media and his operatives wanted him to remain a blank canvas, onto which to paint any Utopian dream.
The public finally looked up and saw a naked world emperor, pretending to be in the position already. They said “nah”.
It will be the Europe trip that was his final undoing.
McCain said
The media has figured this out. They might be narcissistic, but they’re not all stupid. In the end, the upset will give them much to write/talk about too.
Entelechy on August 5, 2008 at 1:11 PM
Ever hear a 500 Harleys riding down a residential street? Wow.
The Race Card on August 5, 2008 at 1:23 PM
I knew whom I was reading before I scrolled up and saw your username. Your optimism is so inspiring it nears arrogance.
If everything is as you say….it’s gonna be fine. But how? How can this be?
You have dirt on Obama, don’t you?
The Race Card on August 5, 2008 at 1:27 PM
The Race Card, to be told of “arrogance” by you, is balsamic :)
Entelechy on August 5, 2008 at 1:31 PM
That’s only because they’re a bunch of RACISTS!
SaintOlaf on August 5, 2008 at 1:36 PM
TRC, if you read every word in this article, and in this one, you’ll know all there is to know.
I wrote many comments on the Europe trip when it happened. These two liberals confirm every word.
This election’s money quote
~ ~ liberal Dana Milbank
Human nature is not that hard to figure out. It instinctively knows some things. It knows, for example, what an empty rhetoric/promise is. Reality is still reality. Perception is not reality. The latter is one of my favorite BSs, ever.
Entelechy on August 5, 2008 at 1:38 PM
I don’t, but if others do, they’ll hurl it. He should not be spared, as he has been so far. Every single candidate for president in our history has been hit by all the dirt that was possible to unearth. Why not this one? I don’t care what one’s race or background is. No one should be spared. This is the biggest job in the gd world. These are also significant and very deciding times. This is not a contest for the most popular, or the most charismatic person (in the world).
One more thing, if the world wants somebody, the Americans sense something untoward about that. It’s their exceptionalism, so much criticized, but so much what keeps that beacon on top of that “hill”. It’s a good thing.
Entelechy on August 5, 2008 at 1:44 PM
Hillary does.
I got my campaign contributions from Norman Hsu
He gave me money that I sure could use
People love it when I lose,
They love my dirty laundry
Well, I coulda been suing a McDonalds, but I married up
I just have to look good compared to the rest, I dont have to be clear
Come and whisper dirty tricks in my ear
See my dirty laundry
See me when Im up
See me when Im down
See me when Im up
See me when Im down
See me when Im up
See me go round and round
We got the carousing Silky Pony didn’t we
You don’t think that the National Enquirer got him without me
He could tell you bout channeling the dead with a gleam
In his eye
Its interesting when people die
See his dirty laundry
Can we trash Obama yet?
You know, the boys in my 2012 campaign got a
Running bet
Got the dirt on him all set!
I love others dirty laundry
You dont really need to know whats going on
You dont really want to know just how far Ive gone
Just leave me well enough alone
Eat my dirty laundry
See me when Im up
See me when Im down
See me when Im up
See me when Im down
See me when Im up
See me when Im down
See me when Im stiff
See me when Im talkin southern black all around
My dirty little secrets
My dirty little lies
Ive got my dirty little fingers in everybodys pie
I love to cut em down to size
I love dirty laundry
I can do the innuendo
I can pounce and I can sing
When its all said and done I havent told you a thing
You all know that my crap is king
Give me dirty laundry!
- Hillary Rodham Henley
MB4 on August 5, 2008 at 1:44 PM
What she said
The Race Card on August 5, 2008 at 1:47 PM
MB4, the lefties will regret very much that they muzzled Hillary.
Entelechy on August 5, 2008 at 1:52 PM
McCain has high favorability ratings and he is one of the most popular Republicans in the country right now. The real base, {the base that voted in the primaries vs the people who constantly complain on political blogs}, voted for McCain because they thought he could win. I know the truth is hard to take sometimes, but there it is.
McCain is a well known quantity, unlike Obama who has come out of virtually no where in a very short time. I don’t think McCain runs the risk of being unknown to people. His greatest challenge will be the liberal media establishment and the faux conservatives who would rather see Obama win than admit they don’t run the GOP.
Terrye on August 5, 2008 at 4:08 PM
And yes, I know I too comment on political blogs. But I also know that I only speak for myself. I don’t think I represent legions. Too many people on both sides of the aisle get into the echo chamber of the internet and begin to think they are the norm. We all do that I think.
Terrye on August 5, 2008 at 4:11 PM
These two have been rated two of the most biased newscasters since I was a kid over 30 years ago. They are the faces of the msm and gwen ifill’s show on pbs is a twitch to the right of a truthers talk show. Two weeks ago she had guys from the wash post, ny times and npr on her show seeing who could get the biggest unfounded rumor started about the mccain campaign.
peacenprosperity on August 5, 2008 at 7:19 PM
Truly mind boggling statements.
peacenprosperity on August 5, 2008 at 7:20 PM
See also, “Spears and Hilton Boost McCain Media Attention”:
http://americanpowerblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/spears-and-hilton-boost-mccain-media.html
Donald Douglas on August 5, 2008 at 8:49 PM