Does McCain Buy His Own Anti-Media Rhetoric?

The most interesting thing about John McCain's acceptance speech last night was what wasn't in it: any hint of the media bashing we've heard so much of this week from his campaign and its sympathizers.

Yeah, I know: That's what he has surrogates for. Still, the failure to sound even a note of the theme that was so prominent in Wednesday night's speeches suggested an answer to a question I've been wondering about: Is the McCain camp's antipathy for the press something that originates with the candidate or something that's being forced on him by advisors?

I'm hardly the first to observe that McCain has, over the years, enjoyed as warm and friendly relations with the fourth estate as any politician in America. I saw it firsthand three years ago, when he charmed the pants off a hotel full of editors at the American Magazine Conference. This is a guy who likes journalists.

To be sure, he's gotten testy with reporters at times as scrutiny of his campaign has cranked up. But it's hard to know how much of this is simple McCain prickliness versus a generalized shift in his attitude. In any case, those episodes were authentic McCain -- speaking his mind, showing his feelings, not worrying about message discipline.

All that had changed by the point of Time's recent profile of and Q&A with the candidate. Those left the distinct impression that McCain's standoffishness was an artificial posture, and one he was none too comfortable adopting. At one point, he even seems to be glaring at the press minder in reproach for not letting him answer questions as he'd like to.

Is it wishful thinking to read McCain's failure to use his convention keynote as a platform for press-bashing as proof that he doesn't buy into it? Maybe so. But I still think we'll find out soon enough that scapegoating the media wasn't his idea.

Bonus link: That wasn't one of McCain's mansions in the background at the beginning of his speech. It looks like some campaign staffer pulled a photo of the wrong Walter Reed.

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