The Postman Rings Up Mike
David Postman, the Seattle Times' chief political writer, today is calling bullshit on a routine snipe by GOP challenger Mike McGavick (pictured) about incumbent U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell. This regards CAFE mileage standards, and it's pretty arcane—the sort of thing a daily newspaper might not have bothered to examine in years past. But the immediacy of the Internet and the fact that someone of Postman's stature has been detached to do nothing but blogging has changed that.
In exploring this one exchange of fire, Postman sheds light on the credibility of a candidate and that of political campaigns generally. An off-the-cuff remark by one candidate impuning another on any given day in any given town is not so easily passed off in an age in which opposing partisans can dissect it and disseminate a rebuttal—and in an age in which a mainstream journalist can use that information as a starting point to level tough questions that can't be evaded without looking foolish.
McGavick might be an old hand at campaigning, but the blogosphere has changed the political dynamic during the years he was an insurance CEO. This, of course, will cut both ways.
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