Democrats say McCain avoiding the press

What's the fascination with clocks by the national political parties' attack machines?

Republicans had one for Barack Obama for how long it had been since he had set foot in Iraq -- until he visited in July. The Republican National Committee quickly began one for the interval between gaffes by Joe Biden after Obama picked him as his running mate, .

And today, the Democratic National Committee started the clock ticking for how long it has been since Republican John McCain has given a news conference with national reporters -- 34 days and counting. His running mate, Sarah Palin, has not held any, and has only done one national TV interview (her second is scheduled on Fox News Channel this evening).

The DNC contrasts McCain's limited access these days to his openness during the primaries and his promise to hold weekly press conferences if elected.

"Since John McCain has been running an utterly indefensible campaign, it's easy to see why he doesn't want to be held accountable to the people or to his own promises," DNC spokesman Damien LaVera said in a statement. "If John McCain is going to echo President Bush's out of touch rhetoric and run sleazy campaign ads full of vile distortions, he owes it to the voters to stand up and take the tough questions."