Why is John McCain so beloved by the press? Howard Kurtz has a simple answer, because he talks to them. It sounds simple but it might well be true.

Kurtz argues that access is often the key to getting at the very least a more even handed write-up and at most the love of those who can help spread and shape a candidates image to the public.

Some further thoughts from Kurtz on the candidates:

Every presidential campaign is constantly calculating whether journalists are potential allies or incorrigible foes. The media are a great — and dirt-cheap — vehicle for carrying a candidate’s message, but submitting to questioning also carries the risk of being thrown on the defensive, as Mitt Romney learned in a tense exchange with Associated Press veteran Glen Johnson last week over the role of lobbyists in his campaign.

As a front-runner, Hillary Clinton spent most of last year keeping reporters at arm’s length. But after falling behind in Iowa, she held an off-the-record dinner with traveling correspondents, brought them doughnuts on the press bus, pretended to be a flight attendant and began doing a slew of interviews, culminating in her “Meet the Press” appearance eight days ago. Accessibility, Clinton has concluded, has its benefits.

Barack Obama has staked out a middle ground, holding occasional “press avails” — but traveling on a separate bus from the pack — and recently agreeing to open his major fundraisers to journalists.

Mike Huckabee has been the ringmaster of a traveling media circus, even inviting reporters to watch him get a haircut. With a shoestring budget, he has been endlessly available as a talk-show guest, yukking it up with Jay Leno and Stephen Colbert, and regularly holding conference calls with journalists. Rudy Giuliani, despite taking a swipe at “the pundits” in a recent television ad, holds a daily news conference on the trail.

And then there is McCain. Reporters rarely quote his aides because the man himself is available to react to just about everything. And that “infinite” access, says Boston Globe correspondent Sasha Issenberg, helps the Arizona senator.

[techtags: John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Media Criticism, Howard Kurtz, media accessibility, election 2008, politics]