I especially loved the “Exclusive!” with the exclamation point, as if this were a rare, special occurrence.
For those keeping score at home, as of this weekend, there will have been 47 Sundays since President Obama’s inauguration in January. With this 16th appearance on a Sunday morning talk show this week, John McCain will have been a guest on one of the programs every 2.9 weeks. No other official in the country has been sought out by bookers this often.
Since the president took office, McCain has been on “This Week” three times (September 27, August 23, and May 10), “Fox News Sunday” three times (July 2, March 8, and January 25), CNN’s “State of the Union” three times (October 11, August 2, and February 15), and “Face the Nation” four times (October 25, August 30, April 26, and February 8). His appearance on “Meet the Press” this weekend will be his third (December 6, July 12, and March 29).
This pattern should really be troubling to the GOP, especially the more conservative end of the party. The Sunday talking heads act as though McCain is the defacto mouth piece for the party, and he clearly isn’t. On top of that, this love of McCain is probably a big factor in the decline of viewership when it comes to Sunday talk shows. It’s old and stale, much like McCain himself.