Last June, when Iowa was inundated with massive floods, Iowa officials asked
the presidential candidates to stay away. Barack Obama did. John McCain
and his entourage arrived to insure he got some photos. George Bush
showed up, too.

Today, John McCain, Cindy McCain and Sarah Palin
are flying to Mississippi for a pre-hurricane photo op. They're meeting
with state officials. The Governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, used
to chair the RNC, "invited" them -- so he's letting his staffers be
used for the politicking on the eve of a massive hurricane striking. Do
the McCains and Palin really need to show up with all of the staff,
their security and the press? McCain did it in Iowa during the floods.
Now, he's doing it during Gustav:

Mr.
McCain plans to go to Jackson, Miss., which is inland, with his wife,
Cindy, and his newly-selected running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska,
his campaign said. Mr. McCain will take only a small pool of reporters,
and will tour a hurricane center with Gov. Haley Barbour, the
Mississippi governor.

Senator Barack Obama said that he had
talked to the Louisiana governor and other officials. He added that he
was monitoring the storm, but was planning no tour of the coast because
he wanted to stay out of the way.

Come on. Only "a small
pool of reporters"? Those reporters are the whole point of the visit.
McCain could get this briefing over the phone or as a web conference
(not that he knows what that is). He doesn't want information. He wants
pictures. This is just another example of McCain putting politics first.

Posted SwanDeer Project at 8:03 AM PDT

Updated: Sunday, 31 August 2008 8:05 AM PDT

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