Opinion: From the John McCain camp, a secret revealed
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How fitting that super-pundit David Gergen had a piece at CNN.com giving some free advice Thursday to Barack Obama.
Elsewhere, we learned that at the highest levels of John McCain’s presidential bid, there exists the ‘Dave Gergen theory of the campaign.’
According to a Washington Post piece that delivers the profile we’ve been waiting to read -- a look at McCain staff honcho Steve Schmidt -- here’s how the ‘theory’ is put into practice: ‘If senior members of the campaign disagree on a strategic move, they watch what Gergen has to say. They then do the opposite.’
To be fair, the article notes that Gergen serves as ‘a metaphor for all talking heads.’
Schmidt is the fellow who brought discpline and focus to the McCain campaign in a matter of weeks -- and has watched his candidate gain momentum in the process. So much so that Gergen -- in the best pundit tradition -- felt compelled to write this:
‘From my perspective, Obama needs to introduce a game changer — and fast — before public opinion starts to gel around the notion that he is a phenom who deserves great respect but is not seasoned enough and would be too much of a risk in the Oval Office.’
We can’t help but wonder if Schmidt, adhering to his rule of thumb, would disagree with that take.
The Post piece, by Lois Romano, not only includes Schmidt’s political self-description -- a ‘raging moderate’ -- but offers insight into why, even as he has taken to shielding McCain from the media, he generally gets along with reporters. Romano relates that Schmidt suffers ‘from a learning disability that makes higher math difficult for him.’
Just like virtually every journalist in America (the folks who bring you The Ticket most definitely NOT excluded).
--Don Frederick