Town Hall: McCain's Comfort Zone
Campaign Banks On Meetings to Give Best Forum for Republican
By Michael D. Shear and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 13, 2008
NEW YORK, June 12 -- Microphone in hand and surrounded on all sides by friendly inquisitors, Republican Sen. John McCain called on a man in the back row of New York's Federal Hall on Thursday night and waited for another opportunity to demonstrate his mastery of the off-the-cuff answer.
"We've got to put our country first and not our party first, and too many people have that reversed," McCain told the man, who asked about how he would break Washington gridlock. "And by the way, this is not a cheap shot. It's a matter of record. . . . You put your finger on what has to be done. Yes, there's going to be a change in Washington, but will it be the right kind of change or the wrong kind of change?"
This is McCain's arena of choice -- the town hall -- where mixing serious answers with flip comments and the occasional sarcastic insult has become his trademark as much as the smartly crafted speech in front of thousands defines his rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Now, the McCain campaign sees town halls as a necessity, hoping the old-style format will serve as a video-age counterweight to the rhetorical chasm between his stilted and sometimes awkward speechmaking and Obama's often rousing delivery.
McCain (Ariz.) has dared Obama to join him at 10 town hall meetings during the next 10 weeks, answering questions from a few hundred undecided people at a time. If it works as the campaign hopes, voters will see McCain as the more informed candidate, with a better command of the nitty-gritty issues that presidents face.
(Continued here.)
By Michael D. Shear and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 13, 2008
NEW YORK, June 12 -- Microphone in hand and surrounded on all sides by friendly inquisitors, Republican Sen. John McCain called on a man in the back row of New York's Federal Hall on Thursday night and waited for another opportunity to demonstrate his mastery of the off-the-cuff answer.
"We've got to put our country first and not our party first, and too many people have that reversed," McCain told the man, who asked about how he would break Washington gridlock. "And by the way, this is not a cheap shot. It's a matter of record. . . . You put your finger on what has to be done. Yes, there's going to be a change in Washington, but will it be the right kind of change or the wrong kind of change?"
This is McCain's arena of choice -- the town hall -- where mixing serious answers with flip comments and the occasional sarcastic insult has become his trademark as much as the smartly crafted speech in front of thousands defines his rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Now, the McCain campaign sees town halls as a necessity, hoping the old-style format will serve as a video-age counterweight to the rhetorical chasm between his stilted and sometimes awkward speechmaking and Obama's often rousing delivery.
McCain (Ariz.) has dared Obama to join him at 10 town hall meetings during the next 10 weeks, answering questions from a few hundred undecided people at a time. If it works as the campaign hopes, voters will see McCain as the more informed candidate, with a better command of the nitty-gritty issues that presidents face.
(Continued here.)
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