The New York Times had just hammered John McCain with a story about his relationship with a female lobbyist, and the perpetually gregarious candidate was not happy.
He arrived for a flight from Indianapolis to Washington offering none of his usual jocular greetings ("Hey, jerks!") for the news corps.
Had the notoriously press-friendly Republican presidential candidate finally been chastened? Hardly.
By last week -- after the lobbyist article landed with a thud, slammed by many as unfair -- McCain was back quipping with reporters. He found time not only to opine on Iraq and Kosovo but to discuss the Phoenix Suns' acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal (a good move), to review recent episodes of the television drama "Lost" and to recall the rapturous beauty of a young Elizabeth Taylor.
McCain has made a political living beguiling the media and the public with his relentless accessibility. His opponents see it as a cynical calculation that doesn't alter the fact that the Arizona senator is an ultimate Washington insider.
The McCain camp counters that the openness is just part of who the Arizona senator is. Media watchers say the persona can offer myriad benefits -- short-circuiting potential "gotcha" stories, challenging doubts about the 71-year-old candidate's stamina, defusing stories about his sometimes explosive temper and affirming that the putative Republican nominee operates differently than most politicians.
In recent days it has become clear that McCain will contrast his style with that of Democratic front-runner Barack Obama. In his speech after winning the Potomac primaries, McCain criticized the Illinois senator for minimizing his exposure "to questions from the press and challenges from voters who ask more from their candidates than an empty promise of 'Trust me, I know better.' "
Even before McCain raised the issue, the media had been battling with Obama's campaign for greater access. Journalists had complained for weeks that the Democrat had been distant and inaccessible during much of his campaign. Those complaints have been muted as Obama has held four question-and-answer sessions with the media in six days.
McCain adopted his talk-until-they-drop style in his 2000 run for the White House. Sitting at the back of his "Straight-Talk Express" bus, rolling across New Hampshire, he seemed to revel in the banter with reporters.
