Not by charm alone

February 12, 2007 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (351) | TrackBacks (0)

It looks like golden child Barak Obama is making a rookie mistake:failure to treat the press like the attention-starved babies that they are:

So when I read one account arguing Obama's decision to make his speech when and where he did "raised questions about his judgment" and "risked the ire" of reporters, I assumed that the writer was either joking or desperately seeking a fresh angle beyond the generally laudatory coverage the announcement brought. (My husband pointed out that if reporters would rather file from warmer locales, there are probably openings in their Baghdad bureau.)

This is a good example of the McCain effect. Back in 2000, John McCain treated the reporters following him around like old buddies. He was always available on the bus and he never went long between good soundbites. In a profession where you have to constantly grovel for the attention of people who very often don't need you as much as you need them, a little bit of politeness and jocularity go a long way to create a positive impression. That's why the media focused on McCain's alleged "maverick" ideas and "straight talk" demeanor and didn't pay attention to his history with the Keating Five and his hard-right positions on many social issues.

Such was the case with Bush as well. Campaign reporters bounce around from city to city, surrounded by competitors and strangers, sleeping in a different bed every night, away from friends and family. Give someone like that a cute nickname, as Bush did, and you have them in the palm of your hand.

Perhaps Obama didn't understand that. Sure, he can get thousands of people to hear him speak outdoors in freezing weather, but the campaign needs to think about the people who go to these events as part of their job. He may have a wife and two young children to think about, but unless he starts treating the people who write about him like family, the steady stream of fake stories (like Swahili-gate) will overwhelm him, as it did Gore and Kerry.

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