Word: pressingly
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Steve Schmidt, John McCain's bald-headed message maven, made his first mark on national politics in the Bush-Cheney war room in 2004. Schmidt specialized in the generous dispersal of indignation - like a friendly neighbor handing out Halloween candy - to a quote-hungry press. "It is simply outrageous that John Kerry is questioning people's patriotism," he told the New York Times in April of that year. "John Kerry will say anything for his political benefit," he told Reuters that October. "Now his campaign surrogates have taken those attacks to a new low," he told the Philadelphia Inquirer that...
...four years later, Schmidt and the McCain campaign have returned to outrage, and there is little doubt that the tactic is again having the desired effect. Two weeks ago, the McCain campaign crowed about the alleged mistreatment that the press and the Barack Obama campaign were heaping on Alaska governor Sarah Palin (at roughly the same time that the campaign sent out e-mail blasts featuring enthusiastic media blurbs of Palin's convention speech). After the convention, the indignation only intensified; in the course of 24 hours, McCain accused Obama of supporting "sex education" for kindergarten students and referring...
...more aggressive campaign. But in the meantime, Obama had to defend himself against charges of sexism at a Virginia library appearance that was originally designed to increase his appeal among women voters. It almost did not matter that McCain had prompted a backlash from the members of the press who repeatedly pointed out that both claims were wildly misleading. The sex-education bill in question had called only for age-appropriate instruction, and there is no evidence that Obama's use of the phrase "lipstick on a pig" referred to Palin. At the time he used the phrase...
...tangent. This imbalance has caused some soul-searching and second-guessing in newsrooms as reporters realize they are being successfully manipulated by the McCain campaign. "Stop the madness," said TIME's own Mark Halperin in an appearance on CNN to discuss the controversy. "I think this is the press just absolutely playing into the McCain campaign's crocodile tears...
...weekend, many news organizations had mounted a backlash of their own, running prominent pieces accusing the self-branded "straight-talking" McCain of deceiving voters. "The 'Straight-Talk Express' has detoured into doublespeak," announced the Associated Press, while the New York Times blared, "McCain Barbs Stirring Outcry as Distortions...