I DON'T THINK I'M A FUSSBUDGET BUT...

I don't think it's appropriate for political reporters to socialize with politicians.

John McCain, grill master supreme
Posted at 7:32 PM
by Jill Zuckman
The Swamp

SEDONA, Ariz. – It was a busy weekend of socializing and tending to the grill for Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
Today, he invited reporters covering his campaign to his cabin for a barbecue.

UPDATE: The WaPo has a little more about this shooze-fest:

For McCain, a Different Kind of Grilling
By Michael D. Shear
PAGE SPRINGS, Arizona -- If he loses the presidency, Sen. John McCain will have a career as a weekend barbecue chef to fall back on.

At his weekend cabin just outside Sedona on Sunday afternoon, McCain took a break from campaigning and grilled baby-back ribs and chicken for three dozen reporters, some staffers and a few friends from the Senate.

The afternoon barbecue for the press was on the record -- sort of.
Tape recorders were prohibited (though a few popped up.) Pictures were not allowed for publication. There were no television cameras. And McCain's aides kept urging reporters to put away the notebooks.

The idea, McCain said, was to allow reporters to get to know him and his staff under less stressful circumstances. (The fact that the press spent the weekend at a resort called "Enchantment" where many sipped wine and enjoyed lengthy deep-tissue massages probably contributed to that feeling.) In addition to the press, Sen. Lindsay Graham, McCain's best friend in the Senate, was there, as was former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Charlie Black, McCain's top political adviser.

UPDATE II: Reporters from CBS News, the WSJ, and the Boston Globe also attended.