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All three networks played Democrat Barack Obama's taunt against Republican John McCain that he "does not want to be seen hat in hand with the President." Accordingly a GOP fundraiser with George Bush that was "originally supposed to be an open event at the Phoenix Convention Center," as ABC's Ron Claiborne put it, was closed to the news media and moved to a private home. NBC's Andrea Mitchell teased McCain for his attempts to keep his ties to Bush under wraps: "When you are riding a big plane with the Presidential seal you cannot slink into town unnoticed." CBS anchor Katie Couric asked her colleague Bob Schieffer of Face the Nation what he thought: "Here is one of the oldest traditions in American politics" he answered. "All the players are playing their parts right on script"--Bush raises the funds; McCain avoids public contact; Obama suggests "some kind of mysterious goings-on out in the shadows." Schieffer reckoned that the President "knows this game and frankly I think he enjoys it."
