Over at the Politico, Jonathan Martin asks why only McCain is appearing on the Sunday talk shows. Cadillac Tight says it is because they know they would be trashed, as they’re not the inside-the-beltway media favorite the way McCain is.

Here’s a couple of other reasons:

  • Church.
  • Not worried about inside-the-beltway buzz yet.
  • Know Russert would be a grilling, and who wants to subject themselves to that until they’re getting questions about “gravitas”? Deal with the Russert Primary when you have to.

A related question: Has Hillary Clinton ever appeared on This Week since George Stephanopoulos became the host? If I recall correctly, he became persona non grata after leaving the Clinton White House, for talking impeachment within 24 hours of the Lewinsky scandal breaking. Also, maybe her people think that Steph would have to hit her with the toughest questions he could, to divert accusations that he gave her softballs as a former Clinton staffer.

Here’s the thing – while I would like to believe that a bad performance on Meet the Press hurts a candidate, there’s not enormous evidence of that. One counter-example:

Some of the criticism directed at Dean is deserved. By nearly all accounts, he gave an awful and seemingly ill-prepared performance on NBC’s Meet the Press a couple of weeks ago, failing to answer many of Tim Russert’s questions to most people’s satisfaction. But the Dean campaign said that immediately after the show contributions came in at a faster rate than they had been, with the tough questions posed by Russert fueling an anti-media establishment backlash by Dean supporters.

Naturally, Deaniacs concluded their man’s “eh” performance was all Russert’s fault.

UPDATE: A McCainiac incredulously asks how the Arizona Senator can be considered the “inside-the-beltway favorite.” Okay, until a few months ago, I would have said that what ABC’s The Note used to call the Gang of 500 preferred McCain best among the Republicans, and also thought that he was the one most likely to win the nomination. The “favorite” label may now apply to Giuliani.