Blog Outreach, Or Just PR?

Update: Thanks to Amanda Carpenter, the backstory is at NRO. Sorry, friends, but character matters to me. If readers, or the GOP, think I have to support this disturbingly flawed man for the Oval Office, they are wrong.

“McCain has always refused to meet with me,” Smith says. “I tried to meet him once at a public hearing. He was at the table, and I went up and I said, ‘Senator,’ and I held out my hand. And he instinctively took my hand, and then he looked up and realized who it was, and he yanked his hand away and said, ‘I’m not going to shake your hand. You’re a bully and a coward, and you have no regard for the Constitution. I don’t have to talk to you. I’m not going to talk to you.’ It was right in front of a large number of people, so I don’t think he wants to talk to me.”

“He said you were a bully and a coward?”

“Uh-huh. And corrupt, too. He always calls me corrupt. And my wife says, ‘If you’re corrupt, you’re the worst corrupt person I’ve ever seen. Where are the fur coats? The watches? The cars? The fancy trips?’”

Smith isn’t finished on McCain. After watching the senator for years, Smith believes McCain doesn’t truly understand his own signature issue. “He is woefully ill informed on campaign-finance issues,” Smith says. “I have seen him repeatedly misstate what the law is, misstate what court decisions held, and I think that’s one reason he gets so angry when he talks about it. It’s because he doesn’t really understand what a complex issue it is, what a difficult issue it is, he doesn’t understand the court hearings, he doesn’t understand how we’ve gotten where we are — so he just gets mad.”

My apologies if I missed it, but I've yet to see any follow up from some very good bloggers who appeared to break some news as a result of participating on a recent conference call with John McCain. Based upon a George Will article and McCain's response to bloggers, it appears one of two things has to be true: either Will constructed a false narrative around interactions between McCain and former FCC Chair Bradley Smith for a hit piece on McCain; or likely GOP nominee John McCain sees every policy dispute as a personal attack on his character.

Some notable Right-side blogs, including Powerline and others linked below, surfaced this issue by participating on the call with McCain. And perhaps some have tried to follow up and gotten no response from McCain, or, as acknowledged, I missed a later post on it. But as it stands, it would seem to me that blog readers simply don't know the answer to that. As I'd hate to see blogging devolve into simply putting out talking points of candidates on either side without any genuinely critical examination, hopefully there's more to this story lurking about on some blog I've not read.

It now seems obvious McCain isn't going to be getting a pass from the mainstream media going forward. If he's wrong on this one, bloggers giving him a free pass now aren't going to be doing the Right any favors in the Fall. Or, if it's an issue of George Will's bias against McCain, bloggers should be exposing that, instead. As it stands, neither appears to be the case among the blogs McCain seems to be reaching out to. That presents the unfortunate potential of their eventually being accused of simply being flaks, totally in the tank for McCain, or any other Pol that happens to call. And given some of the bloggers, I'd like to think that's not the case.

Link:   According to McCain, if Smith was going to attack his character, then he wasn't going to shake his hand.

Does McCain even know what Will wrote?? Because his response makes absolutely no sense. Will claimed it was McCain who attacked Smith's character.

When Smith chaired the Federal Election Commission, he voiced skepticism about the wisdom and constitutionality of aspects of McCain-Feingold's campaign regulations. McCain responded characteristically, impugning Smith's character. When, at a 2004 Senate hearing, Smith nevertheless extended his hand to McCain, McCain refused to shake it.

Smith, behaving honorably toward someone who does not reciprocate civilities, today says McCain has an arguable case that, not having cashed any public checks, he should be released from his commitment and the spending ceiling. The FEC must decide, but it cannot act because it lacks a quorum.

Comments

[Gary Gulrud]

While I have to grant to some in the military, who support him, that "this disturbingly flawed man"--would be a better choice for our armed forces--a case cannot be made on any other front.
The GOP must not be rewarded in any way for stepping back and allowing this man the stage.
If our country cannot survive having another leftist fool (remember Jimmy) as President, then it certainly can't survive John McCain.

[Roy Mustang]

Let me get this right. You’re not voting for McCain because he refused to shake hands with someone?

You guys certainly have your priorities straight.

Well, whatever. In any case, do you think this Nixonian framing of McCain will work given his well known history of reconciling with his enemies?

[LOL]

rofl w/e, as I'm looking at this post I see a freaking John McCain for President ad on your sidebar. You have no morals Dan. You're just a loudmouth whiny hypocrite.

[Dan Riehl]

Nixonian?? LMAO I only wish McCain was that smart. The other difference? I still like Nixon, Roy - always did. ha ha ha He may have gone around the bend, but at least Nixon knew who the enemy was.

[Dan Riehl]

"a freaking John McCain for President ad"

Um, that's via MSNBC - and I really should remove the code, as it generates no revenue for me at all.

[Yoda]

Not playing with a full deck, McCain is.

[seekeronos]

I wonder if it isn't too late for some Clinton operative (or some other operative) to turn up something REALLY ugly on McCain - something sufficient "beyond the pale" that would disqualify him or at least cause a serious challenge for him at the convention...

...because we are really going to be up the creek for the next four years no matter who wins in November.

I cannot help but to think that the dreadful righteous judgment of the Lord is upon our nation, and that His wrath is kindled very fiercely against us for our national sins.