McCain’s Pump Fake
McCain is getting a little bit of media attention with speculation that he will announce his VP choice this week. So far the sources lurk in anonymity. Contrary to what U of I alum Bob Novak claims, the McCain campaign is bluffing.
But this is a shrewd tactical bluff. The former media darling McCain is discomforted and perplexed by the media’s scant coverage of his lifeless campaign. Speculation he’s about to announce his VP carved out some coverage for McCain in a media week that would otherwise be consumed by Obama’s world tour. Reports are now saying the campaign will “hold off for now.”
A good friend of mine put it an entirely different way, significantly cruder way: “The VP thing was kinda smart, kinda sad in a way. It’s like a fat girl wearing a miniskirt in a last desperate act because it’s the only thing left that gets a look her way.”
It was a smart move, though probably a dishonest one. Incidentally, I think McCain should have picked this week, or better yet last week, or even better yet, the week before. The sooner the better.
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On an unrelated note, does anyone else think its lunacy that the selection of a VP is left to the whims of one man? After all, the VP is one breath of one man from being the leader of the free world. The public should have a much greater role in this pick. It is too important for a politician to pick some fool just because he might be able to carry an electorally significant swing state.
