Yesterday it appears that the McCain camp attempted to lure unsuspecting bloggers under the beguiling glare of John McCain. (Or was that just the glare off his head?).

OK, OK... so putting aside the ad hominem attacks... McCain has some mending to do. So Patrick Hynes, blogger extraordinaire, puts together a conference call for prominent bloggers to repair these fences. Oh.... wait. Bad analogy. John doesn't like those damned fences.

Hey, wait a minute, why wasn't I invited? Do they think I'm bias or something? Can't I be won over?

Here are some summaries. First, the intrepid Mary Katherine Ham:

Some of the answers were good, but I didn't feel like conservative bloggers' real, politely presented, substantive issues with McCain were taken as seriously as they could have been. I mean, we've got some deep-seated issues, here, that have developed over many years for some of us. There were only a few of us on the call, and I wish we could have gone longer.

David All, live-blogged the even, liked the call a bit more:

This was a very smart move by Team McCain. They had a cadre of key bloggers on the call and the folks who weren’t on the blog call will be able to figure out what was said from spaces like this and others. The entire tone of the discussion was dead-on. This was not a “Team McCain giving us the Jack Bauer interrogation to support his candidacy…” It was rather a, “hey we know we don’t agree on all the issues, but we respect your contribution to the process, want to know how you’re feeling, and want to include you in our kitchen-cabinet to help us make better decisions next time.”

Capn's Quarters makes a larger point:

Bloggers have their best opportunity yet to shape and influence the debates that make up a presidential campaign. We have to remain vigilant about remaining credible if we want to make the most of it. If we want a campaign about issues and philosophical direction, then we have to have the discipline to focus on those topics, and to eschew anything that detracts from it. If successful, we can make this the most transparent and responsible election in memory.

Listen, the short of it is McCain has some chasms, gaps, gapping black holes to fill. This is a good first step... but methinks the breach is too big.

Labels: McCain