'Don't Be Argumentative With the Candidate'

Among the new rules of Campaign 2008:

1. Don't Interrupt a John Cougar Mellencamp concert;

2. Don't Ask Questions About Skull and Bones; and

3. Don't Be Argumentative With the Candidate!

During a media availability session in Columbia, S.C. Thursday--reported by ABC News' Matt Stuart --Republican candidate Mitt Romney and AP reporter Glen Johnson nearly came to blows over whether or not Romney's campaign is "run by lobbyists."

It began with Romney's statement, "I don't have lobbyists running my campaign." To which Johnson replied, "That is not true. Ron Kaufman's a lobbyist. How can you say that you don't have lobbyists?" Romney responded with, "I said I don't have lobbyists running my campaign and he's not running my campaign." Undeterred, Johnson noted, "He's one of your senior advisors."

Romney at this point got mad, saying that even though Ron Kaufman--a D.C. public affairs consultant--is a campaign advisor, he's never been involved in strategy sessions. Johnson called his bluff, and it looked like things were about to get interesting when Romney campaign spokesperson Eric Fehrnstrom stepped in and said something that could forever change the way media covers politics:

"Don't be argumentative with the candidate."

What is that all about? I mean, he might as well have said, "These are not the droids you're looking for."

B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.