20 years ago you could've gotten away with something like this. 20 years ago you were able to say one thing to one audience and another thing to another. But in today's media world, behaving this way is incredibly stupid:
[O]n right-wing radio talker Mike Gallagher's show this past Friday, McCain struck a different tone, proudly declaring that "no one has supported President Bush on Iraq more than I have." "Let me emphasize that there are many national security issues that I have strongly supported the president and steadfastly so," added McCain.
Later in the interview, McCain reiterated that he has "agreed with the president on many issues," though he said "there are some issues" they have not agreed on.
Why does this matter? Because McCain is simultaneously running around and saying things like this:
CNN: It seems you've been painted as being a huge supporter of the president's Iraq strategy. Is that an inaccurate portrayal?
MCCAIN: It's entertaining, in that I was the greatest critic of the initial four years, three and a half years. I came back from my first trip to Iraq and said, "This is going to fail. We've got to change the strategy to the one we're using now." But life isn't fair
In the pre-Internet world of politics, this sort of behavior wouldn't even have been noticed. Even if someone opposed to McCain's candidacy had been listening when he made these remarks, it would have been almost impossible for them to let enough other people know for it to become an issue. But no longer. Today everything a politician says is recorded, transcribed, and distributed on the Internet for the entire world to see. The old strategy of customizing your message in different ways for different groups isn't going to work anyone. McCain clearly doesn't understand that yet. But he will soon. He will soon....
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