Behind McCain's Town Hall Campaign - McCain Can't Compete With Obama

[EV_Ares]

Sometimes in politics, the medium really is the message. The Republican nominee cannot compete with Obama's crowds or cash, so small-scale events where he excels are becoming central to his candidacy

Surround Barack Obama with an arena of 20,000 supporters, or a city center with twice as many, and it doesn't so much matter what he says. The sheer spectacle speaks for itself — something new is happening, and a whole lot of people are passionate about being a part of it.

The same can be said for John McCain, though his trademark medium is anything but the formal rally, where his appearances can still leave empty seats and relatively subdued crowds even in a high school gymnasium. Instead, McCain is most at home in the "town hall meeting," a modern twist on the old New England civic institution, where neighbors would gather to participate in pure democracy. For McCain, the town hall is more than just a chance for him to spread his message of staying the course in Iraq and cutting taxes and spending. It is itself the message he wants to deliver.

"These town hall meetings are the most important part, in my view, of the process, because it not only gives you a chance to hear from me — and I'll try not to make you hear from me very long — but it gives me an opportunity to hear from you," McCain said Friday, at a town hall in central New Jersey. "It gives us a glimpse and an idea of your hopes, and your dreams, and your aspirations, and your frustrations today, and the challenges that you face, and better sets our priorities, and it helps me enormously."

As a practical matter, McCain overstates the reciprocity of these events. Over the more than 100 town halls he held in New Hampshire alone this cycle, it's hard to track many interactions that had any real effect on his policy positions. The one major historical exception is global warming, an issue on which McCain has broken with his party, in part, he says, because of all the environmental concerns he heard at town halls during the 2000 campaign. But even if the town halls are less interactive than he claims, his praise of them cannot overstate their importance to his candidacy.

Link to entire article: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1814902,00.html

[Miss Chybil]

1. McCain wants to be seen with Obama crowds.

He can't draw the people on his own. He doesn't have the money for advertisement and he wants to leech onto Obama while he tries to beat him. I only hope the Obama campaign can see through this and don't allow McCain to drive their campaign.

[AlinPA]

4. Correct. Why give McCain a chance to take advantage of the energy around Obama?

A few weeks ago here, I used a football analogy (sorry, again): why use a running game against a good run-defense when the other team has a poor pass defense and you have a great quarterback at passing.

[ellenfl]

2. wrong!

Surround Barack Obama with an arena of 20,000 supporters, or a city center with twice as many, and it doesn't so much matter what he says. The sheer spectacle speaks for itself — something new is happening, and a whole lot of people are passionate about being a part of it.

i disagree that it doesn't matter what he says. he is inspiring even without a crowded hall and i am not blindly following him. i hear what he has to say.

ellen fl

[creeksneakers2]

3. McCain propaganda

There's no reason to believe McCain does any better in town halls than Obama. McCain is getting away with spreading that talking point, which he's using to divert attention from his lack of public speaking skills.

Instead of doing McCain's ten town halls, Obama should offer to do five if McCain does five man to man. one on one debates. We could see who is chicken then. Town halls don't work well for Republicans. The questioners tend to ask how the government will help with specific problems they are having. Republicans offer very little toward problem solving.