It sounds like the campaign is afraid that McCain can no longer hold his own in a real press conference. And that's very strange. As the article notes, much of McCain's "maverick status" is due to the unparalleled access he gave the press. It's cute for McCain's campaign to claim that now that McCain has entered the big leagues he just can't give the press that much access, but that doesn't ring true at all. McCain was in the big leagues when he was fighting for the 2000 nomination too. He didn't virtually eliminate his press conferences. But now, in numerous stories, we're reading how McCain has become nonexistent in the back of the bus where the press hang out. That suggests that John McCain of 2008 is not John McCain of 2000. Whether it's age, infirmity, or just orneriness, something has changed in John McCain, and the maverick has left the building:
The Arizona senator used to wear out reporters with his wide-ranging question-and-answer sessions, shifting from campaign strategy to international affairs to baseball, and back again. When a nervous press aide, Brooke Buchanan, would call time, McCain invariably responded, "Let me do one more."
There's been none of that freewheeling back and forth this week. Instead, for three straight days, McCain has approached a microphone, spoken for five minutes or less and then walked away without taking a single question.
Ducking questions would be nothing new for many politicians. But it's very much at odds with McCain's reputation and the unconventional image he's touting in a new campaign ad that boasts, "He's the original maverick."
McCain owes much of his maverick reputation to the virtually unlimited access he gave reporters during his first presidential campaign eight years ago. It's a style he reverted to last summer, after his more formal campaign nearly collapsed under its own weight.
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