McCain Ends Campaign With a Hug? Are You Serious?

I like the NYT election day-eve photo (below) a lot better than the one above Getty distributed and most everybody else ran.

Joshua Lott for The New York Times

What the Times pic calls out is the phoniness and impersonality of the photo op — reflecting the cynical and hateful campaign McCain ran, exemplifying his most extreme act of shape-shifting in a career defined by it.

Visual media does the public no favors with such collusion.

(Getty caption: U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) hugs supporter Kathi Korth during a visit to a campaign office one day before Arizona’s primary election on August 23, 2010 in Tucson, Arizona. Once labeled a vulnerable incumbent, the four-term Republican is the clear front-runner against challenger J.D. Hayworth in Tuesday’s contest.)