McCain’s photo flop
Golf cart ride with Bush 41 looks bad when age is campaign issue
If a picture is worth a thousand votes, John McCain is in trouble. While Presidential Obama was traveling overseas last week, having his photo taken in all the right places with all the right people, the McCain campaign machine was back home appearing determined to retain its amateur status.
Apart from McCain’s verbal gaffes, his geography boo-boos (Iraq doesn’t border Pakistan) and his whining about Obama’s extensive media coverage (McCain was the one who goaded him into going), there was the golf cart photo op.
McCain allowed himself to be photographed riding around in a golf cart being driven by former President George H.W. Bush. Although some might question the political wisdom of McCain going out of his way to tie himself to one of the most unpopular presidents in history by way of his father, the real gaffe was the golf cart.
When you’re working on 72, and age is a major issue in voters’ minds, you really don’t want to be seen tooling around in a golf cart unless you are chasing a little white ball.
Golf carts suggest limited mobility. Golf carts imply health concerns. But then, McCain has always had a tin eye for photo ops.
Remember his shopping excursion in Baghdad where he was pictured walking around a market in a helmet and body armor while proclaiming the city was becoming safer? Did he not think anyone would notice he was being protected by helicopter gunships and half the Army?
Granted, McCain will still have to go some to top the undisputed king of photo ops gone wrong, Michael Dukakis. Running for president in 1988, the former Massachusetts governor was posed riding atop a tank wearing a weird-looking helmet. The ad was supposed to say something about being strong on defense, but what it ended up saying was “dork.”
So far, the Obama campaign has been very good, and very careful, about how and where the candidate is seen. What they need to be mindful of, however, is that even the perfectly staged photo op can turn on you.
Remember the “Mission Accomplished” landing on the aircraft carrier by you know who?