A couple weeks ago Wired ran an Obama vs. McCain Tech Scorecard. McCain earned a D; Obama a B. [See comment below, thank you BBQ for correcting my error.] Nicholas Thompson then contacted the two campaigns and asked for representatives to debate over tech issues. Obama offered up former FCC chair Reed Hunt.
Here’s Thompson’s tale of the McCain campaign response:
My first choice was Carly Fiorina. She’s a smart McCain supporter and she’s very articulate on these issues. I was told she’d be happy to participate and her people were extremely accommodating and helpful. But she is controversial and the McCain people vetoed her — claiming that they wanted someone with policy expertise, not just general wisdom about technology.
Ok. How about Michael Powell, a McCain advocate and another former FCC chair? It turns out, however, that his people say he’ll be traveling continuously until after the election. Hmm. Maybe true. Or maybe he was worried about stories about a familial split, given that his father, Colin, was about to endorse Obama. How about Meg Whitman? Nope. She can’t do it. John Chambers? Nope. He can’t either.
Finally, after some begging, approval appeared to come in for Ms. Fiorina to participate. It looked like the debate would happen: 12:30pm, on Thursday October 30th: Fiorina v. Hundt. But then: kaboom. Word comes again this morning that the McCain camp must, must have someone with policy expertise. And, since there’s no one else, the debate’s off.
Thompson notes that the pick of Palin suggests that policy expertise really isn’t the campaign’s top priority. What’s equally striking is that the campaign so consistently avoids speaking to policy issues.