But they were effective in mobilizing opposition to McCain. You may be one of the few people who feels that way. Candidates fear that if they admit any negative information voters will think that every bit of negative information is correct. Given the sound bite nature of political campaigning, it is very easy for some admission of wrongdoing to become the center of a repeated theme. Yes, well, not too facetious to argue he should have given those reporters gifts at the beginning.
Political candidates learn very early that comfortable, well-fed reporters give positive coverage.
So all candidates do their best to be friendly adn available to reporters. McCain was given particularly high marks. And it may be both Bradley and McCain, the underdogs, have to do better at courting the media. There were also a number of complaints about a lack of availability of Bush to reporters. And how he seemed to only focus on the national media.