Give what the Boston Phoenix‘s Adam Reilly sees as John McCain’s “well-documented knack for charming the press into submission,” Reilly offers the campaign press a ” handy list of 10 McCain stories worth pursuing over the next few months.” Writes Reilly:
[T]he political press has…embraced an expansive criterion when it comes to coverage: if a given subject tells us anything about what kind of president a candidate might be, it’s fair game. That’s how it’s been for the Democrats, anyway. McCain ought to be treated the same way.
Among Reilly’s story ideas: pushing for the release of his medical records; probing whether McCain “grasps [Islam and the Middle East] well enough to be president;” and exploring “hints of misogyny.” (Have a look at CJR’s list of 8 questions for McCain from back in January).
Not among Reilly’s suggestions: pressing for the release of Cindy McCain’s tax returns (which, as Michael Calderone notes, the Washington Post did in an editorial yesterday — a few days after receiving a letter from Media Matters urging them to do so and noting the Post‘s 2004 editorial calling for the release of Teresa Heinz Kerry’s returns, although the Post says the Media Matters letter was not a factor.)
Maybe Matt Bai touches on some of these issues in his New York Times magazine cover story (for this Sunday; online now)…
Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.