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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2008 > February > 21 > Entry
John McCain: “I intend to move on”
The first juicy scandal of this young political season has reared it’s ugly head. According to an article today in the NEW YORK TIMES it involves John McCain.The article states that:
“A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.
When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist’s client, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.
Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.
It had been just a decade since an official favor for a friend with regulatory problems had nearly ended Mr. McCain’s political career by ensnaring him in the Keating Five scandal. In the years that followed, he reinvented himself as the scourge of special interests, a crusader for stricter ethics and campaign finance rules, a man of honor chastened by a brush with shame.
But the concerns about Mr. McCain’s relationship with Ms. Iseman underscored an enduring paradox of his post-Keating career. Even as he has vowed to hold himself to the highest ethical standards, his confidence in his own integrity has sometimes seemed to blind him to potentially embarrassing conflicts of interest.”
Oh, my! Senator John McCain moved quickly to deny any kind of improper or romantic relationship with a lobbyist:
“Mr. McCain’s presidential campaign issued the following statement Wednesday night:
“It is a shame that The New York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit-and-run smear campaign. John McCain has a 24-year record of serving our country with honor and integrity. He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the issues at stake in this election.
“Americans are sick and tired of this kind of gutter politics, and there is nothing in this story to suggest that John McCain has ever violated the principles that have guided his career.”
For more on John McCain’s reaction, click here.
What conclusions can we draw from this story? Only one, I suppose; John McCain will most certainly cancel his subscription to the NEW YORK TIMES.
Ah, politics, don’t you love it?!
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: politicked
Comments
By victor mickunas
February 28, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this
“T is a fact that John McCain has surrounded himself with lobbyists on his campaign staff. Whether or not he had a special relationship with one in particular has not been proved, yet. His cadre of lobbyists does create the impression that McCain is in bed with special interests. That is not a positive perception for the public to have.By Mark from St Paul
February 23, 2008 12:48 PM | Link to this
From 2002: ABRAMS: Do you know were they got the information? MCCAIN: No, but I would add, I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue. […] ABRAMS: Did you speak to the company’s lobbyist about these matters? MCCAIN: I don’t recall if it was Mr. Paxson or the company’s lobbyist or both. ABRAMS: But you did speak to him? MCCAIN: I’m sure I spoke with him, yes. Which pretty much contradicts the new spin. Not pretty at all.By victor mickunas
February 23, 2008 10:27 AM | Link to this
This story didn’t end with John McCain’s quick denials. His campaign has gotten a surge of new money. Conservatives who have avoided supporting McCain are starting to back him now. AND….according to recent breaking news…this scandal is NOT going away.By TRS
February 22, 2008 9:09 PM | Link to this
Hmmm…I heard McCain’s press conference and he denied everything about the article. In addition, editors from across the country including the San Francisco Examiner and the Seattle paper, neither of which could be considered friends of conservatives, refused to run the story because it was a rehash of old history, unsubstantiated inuendo and basically “drive by” journalism . Bob Bennett and Lanny Davis, both staunch Democrats, admonished the Times for what they both termed a “hit” piece. My guess is that had such a poor piece of journalism ran on Obama, Mark from St Paul would be screaming. By the way, this whole lobbyist stuff is silly anyway. I assume the unions, trial lawyers, environmentalists, etc lobby the Dems, but then thats OK, eh Mark of of St Paul because you agree with them.By Mark from St Paul
February 22, 2008 4:27 PM | Link to this
Yellow journalism? Then perhaps TRS can show us a direct quote from McCain in which McCain specifically denies the charges. I’m not aware of any such quote as McCain has talked about everything but whether he had an improper relationship with a lobbyist (his campaign mgr, btw, is a former top lobbyist). As for the Times being “a w(rec)k now,” well, featuring David Brooks and Bill Kristol on their op-ed page has certainly damaged their rep, no doubt about it.By S. of town
February 21, 2008 8:54 PM | Link to this
Sen McCain, to quote Gene Kelly in the film version of “Inherit the Wind”, is getting away with, “accusing the accuser.” I trust the Gray Lady, and this story has legs. It is not really a sex scandal, which can never be proven…it is a question of influence. Sen McCain intervened on behalf of a Florida client of the lobbyist in 1998 and 1999.Read the Times article, folks. There’s the beef.By TRS
February 21, 2008 8:01 PM | Link to this
This is the kind of yellow journalism which is making the print media irrelevant. Beyond McCain’s denial of an affair the other party denys it as well. No advisor agrees with the story as reported and there is nothing that reflects wrong doing regardining lobbyists. The NY Times has again proven itself on the same plane as a tabloid rag - it certainly is no longer a paper of record - it is only a w(rec)k now.