Where is John McCain? Brody File Responds
The Brody File is writing the following post because we’ve had numerous emails and comments about why John McCain is not appearing as much as Barack Obama on The Brody File. Where do I begin?
First of all, The Brody File has made numerous (dozens) of requests for a one on one interview with John McCain. Those requests have been turned down due to various reasons. Usually I am told it is a scheduling issue. I have been trying for six months. The Brody File has bent over backwards to try and get John McCain to discuss issues of faith, social policy and other matters. I am told that an interview will eventually be forthcoming. I believe it will happen and that is encouraging. ( I have interviewed him twice…once in January of this year and last March)
I share this information with you because you asked about it and it’s hard for the Brody File to respond to the hundreds of emails I get about this. On the other hand, the Obama campaign has made a decision to aggressively court people of all faiths and appearing with me is part of that strategy. I have NOT approached the Obama campaign with more interview requests than the McCain campaign. Actually, it’s been quite the opposite because I’ve come to realize that John McCain has been a harder “get”.
Here’s why: There is no doubt that the McCain camp realizes that religious conservatives are crucial to winning in November. The McCain staff is working hard to get out the vote. But the thinking inside the McCain camp also centers on how they need to appeal to Independents and moderates who may get turned off to some degree with excess talk about faith and social issues. There may be a reluctance to appear in part for this reason. After all, Brody File interviews end up on The 700 Club. But what’s important to remember about our audience (and I get reminded everyday in the emails I receive) is that we are read and viewed by voters from all faiths. It’s a wide spectrum with various political views.
So when you see Barack Obama sitting down with me and appearing on CBN, don’t think for a minute that we aren’t affording the same opportunity to John McCain. We are. As a matter of fact, once I found out that I would be the only journalist taken backstage to interview Obama after the Saddleback Forum, I reached out to the McCain campaign to see if they would like to do an interview. ( I had been told no a few weeks before the event) They told me the interview would happen at a later point but not after Saddleback.
I appreciate all who have written to me about your concerns but I can only do so much. I hope this better explains the situation.
