http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/10/07/politics/fromtheroad/entry4507703.shtml

Reporter's Notebook: Seeing How The Other Half Lives
Posted by Dean Reynolds| 639





(CBS)From CBS News' Dean Reynolds:

(NASHVILLE, TENN.) - After most of the previous 12 months covering Barack
Obama's campaign for the presidency, it was interesting, instructive and, well,
relaxing to follow John McCain for the last few days. The differences between
the two are striking.

Obama is the big time orator, McCain is the guy who struggles with a
teleprompter or even note cards strategically placed nearby. Obama's crowds are
larger, more enthusiastic. McCain's events are smaller, but to my eye, better
choreographed. And now with the addition of Sarah Palin to some of his events,
McCain can boast of crowds that match Obama's in energy.

There is an urgency to the McCain campaign now that I don't think was there
before. Due to the fact that he is running second, no doubt, but it may also be
because McCain has a finishing kick. Whatever the case, he is sharper on the
stump than he was before. (Though I would suspect a candidate running behind
would want to schedule two or three appearances per day, instead of the one
McCain usually does.)

It is true that McCain enjoys taking questions from the audience in town
hall-style settings. That doesn't mean he is the master of that kind of forum,
it just means he's good at it. He likes to converse with voters. Obama does it
well too, but seldom achieves that intangible bond with the people that all
politicians crave -- or fake.

Behind the scenes, where the public is not allowed, there are other
differences.

Obama's campaign schedule is fuller, more hectic and seemingly improvisational.
The Obama aides who deal with the national reporters on the campaign plane are
often overwhelmed, overworked and un-informed about where, when, why or how the
candidate is moving about. Baggage calls are preposterously early with the
explanation that it's all for security reasons.

If so, I would love to have someone from Obama's campaign explain why the
entire press corps, the Secret Service, and the local police idled for two
hours in a Miami hotel parking lot recently because there was nothing to do and
nowhere to go. It was not an isolated case.

The national headquarters in Chicago airily dismisses complaints from
journalists wondering why a schedule cannot be printed up or at least e-mailed
in time to make coverage plans. Nor is there much sympathy for those of us who
report for a newscast that airs in the early evening hours. Our shows place a
premium on live reporting from the scene of campaign events. But this campaign
can often be found in the air and flying around at the time the "CBS Evening
News with Katie Couric" is broadcast. I suspect there is a feeling within the
Obama campaign that the broadcast networks are less influential in the age of
the internet and thus needn't be accomodated as in the days of yore. Even if
it's true, they are only hurting themselves by dissing audiences that run in
the tens of millions every night.

The McCain folks are more helpful and generally friendly. The schedules are
printed on actual books you can hold in your hand, read, and then plan
accordingly. The press aides are more knowledgeable and useful to us in the
news media. The events are designed with a better eye, and for the simple needs
of the press corps. When he is available, John McCain is friendly and
loquacious. Obama holds news conferences, but seldom banters with the reporters
who've been following him for thousands of miles around the country. Go figure.


The McCain campaign plane is better than Obama's, which is cramped,
uncomfortable and smells terrible most of the time. Somehow the McCain folks
manage to keep their charter clean, even where the press is seated.

The other day in Albuquerque, N.M., the reporters were given almost no time to
file their reports after McCain spoke. It was an important, aggressive speech,
lambasting Obama's past associations. When we asked for more time to write up
his remarks and prepare our reports, the campaign readily agreed to it. They
understood.

Similar requests are often denied or ignored by the Obama campaign aides,
apparently terrified that the candidate may have to wait 20 minutes to allow
reporters to chronicle what he's just said. It's made all the more maddening
when we are rushed to our buses only to sit and wait for 30 minutes or more
because nobody seems to know when Obama is actually on the move.

Maybe none of this means much. Maybe a front-running campaign like Obama's that
is focused solely on victory doesn't have the time to do the mundane things
like print up schedules or attend to the needs of reporters.

But in politics, everything that goes around comes around.

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