It’s true, the back of the bus can get very cozy, and not just as in crowded. A core group of reporters has been with him long enough that we could start a band or a book club, so entrenched are the inside jokes and personal references.
But that doesn’t mean it’s always an easy ride for any of us.
Today, on the way to his final town hall, McCain was asked about his statement that we might be in Iraq for “a hundred years.” How, another reporter* wondered, might the Islamic world take such a statement? Might it be inflammatory?
McCain answered with a version of what he’s said before: It didn’t inflame the Japanese, it didn’t inflame Kuwait…
I thought that sort of missed the point. Not that we got much further, but this is a fairly typical example of what it’s like to try and get John McCain off his game.
* That reporter? Ramesh Ponnuru, my new colleague. Should have identified him earlier. Sorry, Ramesh.