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A transparent success for the McCain campaign

James Forsyth

Monday, 19th May 2008

One of the McCain campaign’s key aims at the moment is to expose Obama’s talk of a new politics as just that—talk. So, it’ll have been delighted by this week’s column by Jonathan Alter, Newsweek’s liberal political columnist. Alter applauds McCain for his commitment to go before Congress and take questions as President and challenges Obama to sign up to it.

“When I asked Obama's campaign about the idea, I got a hedged answer. That's too bad, because it could be a fresh and exciting way for Obama to convey that he's serious about genuine structural change in the way Washington works. The press should press him to match McCain on this one, and prove that he trusts transparency, whatever the risks”

Even before the general election campaign has started, the McCain campaign has already succeeded in causing the Obama campaign some discomfort with its suggestion of joint town halls and now this. Expect the McCain campaign to keep plugging away on this front. In what is a pretty ghastly political environment for Republicans and with the McCain campaign stumbling a bit, this is one area where McCain seems to be gaining traction.