For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk (breaking on KO now)

[maddezmom]

Source: NYT

WASHINGTON — Early in Senator John McCain’s first run for the White House eight years ago, waves of anxiety swept through his small circle of advisers.

A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, in his offices and aboard 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 clients, 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.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us/politics/21mccain.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[texasleo]

1. McCain accused of affair (sexual) with lobbyist

Source: MSNBC

Months later, NY TIMES set to launch results of its McCain investigation of senator's relationships with lobbyists... Developing Late...

Read more: http://www.drudgereport.com/

[bemildred]

2. Oh good.

:popcorn::popcorn:

[lisainmilo]

92. I'm with yah!

:popcorn:

[katty]

6. o lordy, here we go...

[bdamomma]

59. it's an election year.

:popcorn:

[goodhue]

10. fun stuff

[santamargarita]

36. A Tribute to Viagra

K&R

[UTUSN]

71. Hey, texasleo, WELCOME HOME!!!!!111 n/t

[aquart]

81. Eight years ago? Nothing more recent???

Honey, if he can get it up for both a wife and a mistress right now, at 72, he may yet have a shot at the White House.

THE MESSAGE: THIS MAN IS VIRILE. STUD. STUD. STUD.

[OhioChick]

3. Uh Oh

Somebody is in trouble.

[NewJeffCT]

11. The February surprise?

he's already got the nomination all but wrapped up - barely time for Huckabee to catch up. Or maybe Romney jumps back in?

[stlsaxman]

61. no- Cheney steps into the race and gets the nomination. n/t

[RuleOfNah]

78. Cheney is younger than McCain.

However, McCain/Castro polls much better than Cheney/Castro.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

4. this is done in the "wife beater" style messaging

its like this is one of those accusations/non stories that sounds
really bad but ends with them saying - well it hasn't been proven.

[krkaufman]

45. The more damaging aspect may be further research into whether he was doing favors ...

... for any particular lobbyists, regardless of whether there was any proven sexual involvement.

[girl gone mad]

5. No wonder his wife became addicted to painkillers.

Loveless marriage of convenience.

[katsy]

7. And Lou Dobbs just read this news to his round table pundits....

snarf snicker he he he he BWA HA HA HA HA HA

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


Dobbs said -"we've got to focus on this"


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


why yes, lou, you must focus on this and so must we.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

50. Maybe ole Lou meant

Focus on The Family.

James Dobson did recently endorse Huckster.

[texasleo]

8. ha

ha

[leftofcool]

9. BS

I hated it when they did it to Bill, when they did it to John Kerry, when they called Hillary a lesbian and I hate that it is being done to McCain. I don't like his politics and I don't particularly like him, but no one deserves this.

Left of Cool

[maddezmom]

22. I'm thinking this may be more about lobbyists than an affair

we'll have to see. :shrug:

[dchill]

31. Actually, it may be about both.

An intriguing confluence of interests, isn't it. Mr. Clean, Mr. Ethics Reform. PROUD PUBLIC SERVANT.

[maddezmom]

35. Now there is a denial from McCain's campaign

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3407188.ece

[paulkienitz]

68. "Just get the son of a bitch to deny it." - LBJ (allegedly)

[Andy823]

29. I agree

This sounds like a hit job by the republicans that can't stand McCain, like Limbaugh and gang. I wonder what Rush will be talking about tomorrow?

This is dirty politics at it's finest, and it stinks! I mean this happened 8 years ago for crying out loud.

[nickgutierrez]

76. One problem with that:

If that's the case, they should have released this early on, when it looked like McCain was really on the ropes. Why wait until he has all but clinched the nomination?

[Truth2Tell]

96. This could be inoculation.

This would be the BEST time, from the McCain camp's perspective, to have this issue addressed and used up by the press. Old news by November.

:shrug:

[Hayduke Lives]

48. I totally agree

Focusing on the perception of personal virtue is undermining our democracy. McCain is a scumbag, but not because of this (apparently) baseless allegation.

The French - and most European democracies for that matter - have the right perspective on this stuff. Focus on the candidate's politics. Not on where they stick their weewees.

[hay rick]

54. hate away

I promise the other side will dig up all the dirt they can find against Obama or Clinton and make up a bunch more to boot. They believe that defaming their opponent's character is more effective than presenting a more credible approach to important issues than their opponent. They are surely correct. We should attack McCain's foibles gleefully. The alternative is not a clean conscience, the alternative is second place.

[IsItJustMe]

99. Your implying that the dems doug this up. Uhh, NO.

[tripitaka]

66. thank you. in all seriousness, means something to me

Every perceived dirty trick played by the left will be paid back tenfold in the next election.

More, if the left is perceived as playing dirty tricks, the rightwing base will continue to buy into the notion that they have to countenance unethical crap to win.

Only if those rightwing base voters -- who are for the most part good Americans who just have a difference of opinion -- see that politics does not have to be that way; only if those voters, especially the Christian ones, come to the conclusion that, you know, the Dems, they're just more ethical -

Only then will we get change. Electing Obama in and of itself accomplishes nothing but a Democratic Administration.

I've been so discouraged by the things about Cindy McCain I've been reading posted by the guys who are supposed to be the ones who fix our broken system, and this hit job on McCain also being given a pass. But your comment, well I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who's disgusted regardless of whether it helps the Democratic Party.

[Cha]

12. Am I missing something here?

I don't see any smoking gun or anything smokin' at all!

[orleans]

15. turn on msnbc -- they cut off tweety's show to give us this breaking news! n/t

[Cha]

20. Thankfully, I don't get msnbc

I depend on DUers! :) Thanks!

All I saw written up was heresay..It could be true..the ol' scum bag.

[stillcool]

13. Blue dress?

[orleans]

18. blue dress on hooker (i mean--lobbyist!) n/t

[Canuckistanian]

67. Cigar?

[Corgigal]

14. Might explain why Huckabee is still in the race

Someone is backing him and funding his non race. Seems like the Republican party is spliting apart.

[maddezmom]

19. that's exactly what I was thinking

[SoFlaJet]

25. this one has the stench of RW slime machinists

all over it

[orleans]

16. i bet romney is kicking himself for dropping out. n/t

[KansDem]

17. Is this the bombshell predicted by Larry Flynt?

Didn't he have the "goods" on several members of Congress, including one Senator?

Whatever happened to that story?

[Jacobin]

23. great minds, and all. beat me to it

:toast:

[Jacobin]

21. I wonder if this is who Larry Flynt was talking about?

A few months back he said he had a name that 'you wouldn't believe'

[diane in sf]

41. I don't think its the Larry Flynt senator, we're not talking pedophilia or buggery here,

just the usual old in and out or $.

[fascisthunter]

24. Looks Like a BS Hit Piece in My Opinion (nt)

[Jacobin]

33. Check out the NYT article on it

He is NAILED.

[Roland99]

56. Nailed over what exactly, though, to warrant such a long article?

To me, doesn't seem like a big deal.

[onehandle]

26. McCain has nobody to smooth over the rough spots.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer thug.

[Christa]

27. Here come Huckabee, the savior

and who knows it may be why Romney only suspended his campaign.

[tinymontgomery]

28. Knocks Obama's wife comment off the front page

Knocks Obama's wife comment off the front page

[From The Left]

40. Excellent point

Very true.

[aquart]

82. What did Obama say about his wife?

[McCamy Taylor]

30. Yesterday, I predicted it was time for the RW to plant fake character attacks against McCain

that could be attributed to Democrats. This is exactly what I was talking about. Most conservatives think of the NYT as a liberal rag even though Neo-Con Kristol (who just loves McCain) is on board (and could be the source of this story) and even though they beat the drums of war with Iraq.

This story looks like a bogus attempt to make McCain look like the victim of a left wing media conspiracy to garner some "victimhood". I predict that nothing will come of it--except that people like Rush and Coulter will blame the "liberal media" and Obama and Hillary--and use it as an excuse to join ranks with McCain.

This is also a convenient time to defuse this story, well in advance of the general election.

KO should be careful of this one. They will paint him as just as bad as Matthews.

[krkaufman]

46. It could also be an attempt by McCain and/or the Republican Party to inoculate McCain ...

... against this angle of attack come the general election. If the issue is brought up now, months before the general heats up, then its effects may be mitigated by the time November comes around.

edit: p.s. Duh, finished reading your post. Same point as your paragraph 3.

[high density]

32. Glad some of my fellow Democrats can just roll their eyes at this

But remember, if this was coming out about one of our candidates, you could be sure Jon Alter, Pat Buchanan, et al on MSNBC would be putting us in our graves, bringing up Lewinsky and every other old piece of shit.

[creeksneakers2]

34. It shouldn't be hard to knock McCain off his "straight talk" image

Wasn't McCain the guy who said he took and unguarded walk around Baghdad and it was perfectly safe, and then the cameras pulled back, and the film showed McCain guarded by 75 troops?

This isn't just a sex story. Lots of lobbyist connections. Its time McCain got a "crooked talk" image.

[From The Left]

37. Drudge Had the Story in December

The question is, why would the NY Times, never known for breaking a story, decide to run it now?

[tblue37]

100. Because rival publications (e.g., _The New Republic_) were also investigating it

and going forward with publishing it.

[sellitman]

38. Beat him on his stances not his dalliances.

We have become no better than they are if we don't.

[Highway61]

39. I am listening to Pat Buchanan

on my TV right now...he is all pinched up over this.... his voice is two decibels higher than usual :rofl:

[Brazenly Liberal]

58. No wonder my dog started howling! nt

:rofl:

[raincity_calling]

42. McCain's AZ history includes

other items I am sure McCain does not want mentioned in the press, include a father-in-law with mob ties.

Google "john mccain wife land fraud mob"

[raincity_calling]

44. Google without quotation marks

in order to pull a number of references.

[maddezmom]

43. Howard Fineman is saying the NYT printed it because the TNR was going

to go public with the fact that the NYT had been sitting on the story.

[Ian David]

47. John McCain fucked The Vancome Lady!

[Bumblebee]

55. The gentleman definitely prefers blondes, artificial or otherwise.

[Ian David]

49. McCain doesn't need Viagra. He has Iraq.

But in some situations, I bet even THAT isn't enough.

[tekisui]

52. He has recently picked up torture.

[Ian David]

53. It take more and more these days to give him a woody, doesn't it? n/t

[Bumblebee]

51. and what do you think our moralist in chief and McCain's best buddy Joe

will say about that? Will he be as quick to condemn him, as he did Clinton? Or are his super religious beliefs more flexible in this case?

[okoboji]

57. just another GOP youthful indescrection n/t.

n/t.


/sarcasm

[momster]

75. "Youthful" refers to the Women

These guys are always chasing the younger ones. McCain's 2nd wife is 18 yrs younger than he and this one's 31 yrs younger. He was a chaser in his first marriage and nothing is harder to give up than infidelity. I wonder if other women will now step out of the shadows and say "We had an affair too."

[disndat]

60. It's a Repub stant

to make McCain seem younger.

[coljam]

62. Watch Out

This McCain thing is a setup.Watch for the right wing to bring up pictures of Obammas blond haired fake affairs........like in blazing saddles Where are the white woman?

[annabanana]

63. Not surprised. McCain DID cheat on his first wife with Cindy, after all.

He's a dog.

[hay rick]

64. lobbyist power

Good article. I love the part about McCain turning his Senate office over to Mark Buse, a telecommunications lobbyist, while he campaigns for President. Buse is one of the lobbyists whose name surfaced in connection with charges that Kenneth Tomlinson was trying to politicize the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Slight conflict of interest for 3-time chairman of the Commerce Committee? Sounds more like clueless George every day...

[jwirr]

65. It appears that the one sure part of this story is that his staff felt it

was necessary to intervene to protect him from himself. That does not sound like someone I want as a leader. Someone who must be shielded from his own actions.

[mcg]

87. His staff felt that his staff felt it. n/t

[From The Left]

69. Old Coot McCain Digs His YTC

He's a typical Repug.

[ClusterFreak]

70. Only one question...

...if this was true, and all this stuff was happening during McCain's 2000 presidential run, why didn't Karl Rove know about it? That way, he wouldn't have had to make up that bullshit story about McCain fathering the black child out of wedlock. The truth would have done just fine.

But if it is true...then :popcorn:

[Just-plain-Kathy]

72. I wonder if this is a way to bring Bush's choice Romney back into the race.

I always thought it would be Romney vs. Hillary. Two corporate loving mega powers slugging it out.

[struggle4progress]

73. "Quim pro quo" is Latin for the GOP's SOP

[williesgirl]

74. She went from SECRETARY to PARTNER in a few years? While touting her closeness to McCain? Doesn't

take a rocket scientist to know they were having an affair and she used that to catapult her career. No wonder he now lets his wife run everything - probably has no choice since she's the one with the money.

My fear is that he's worse than * if that had once seemed possible. rec'd

[usregimechange]

77. Kick!

[mcg]

79. Wash. Post: McCain's Ties To Lobbyist Worried Aides

McCain's Ties To Lobbyist Worried Aides
Before 2000 Campaign, Advisers Tried to Bar Her

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/20/AR2008022002898.html?hpid=topnews

Aides to Sen. John McCain confronted a telecommunications lobbyist in late 1999 and asked her to distance herself from the senator during the presidential campaign he was about to launch, according to one of McCain's longest-serving political strategists.

John Weaver, who served as McCain's closest confidant until leaving his current campaign last year, said he met with Vicki Iseman at the Center Cafe in Union Station and urged her to stay away from McCain. Association with a lobbyist would undermine his image as an opponent of special interests, aides had concluded.

Members of the senator's small circle of advisers also confronted McCain directly, according to sources, warning him that his continued relationship with a lobbyist who had business before the powerful Commerce Committee he chaired threatened to derail his presidential ambitions. ...

[greyghost]

80. Let us not lose sight of the fact that Mr. Straight Shooter...

threw his first wife over for Cindy.

Cindy is from one of the oldest and WEALTHIEST families in Arizona. Hence, the beginning of McCain's political career.

Cindy has had a long history of prescription drug abuse, that was in line to be revisited as well.

So the NY Times story is no surprise at all.

[mcg]

83. Maybe Vicki calls him "Straight Shooter", here's a pic of her and Bush

From http://old.www.iup.edu/publications/iupmag/BACKISSUES/Fall02/iseman.shtm

[greyghost]

85. Sure looks like McCain's type, a pre-surgery Cindy. Thanks...

for posting that I was wondering what she looked like.

[mcg]

91. Vicki Iseman And Cindy McCain: Twins? Separated At Birth? (Huff.Post)

from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/20/vicki-iseman-and-cindy-mc_n_87708.html



Vicki | Cindy

[greyghost]

94. Works for me. LOL

[Baby Snooks]

84. Why now?

Why did the New York Times run this now that McCain is obviously the Republican nominee? The interesting thing is not the "sex scandal" but the intimation of influence peddling. And the interesting thing about that is the Republicans may spend the campaign wearing the "ethics" albatross around their neck and that will impact all the Republican races. There must be a God after all!

[greyghost]

86. Sex & ethics, gifts that keep giving! eom

[hasssan1]

88. Mcdady like blondies , He is a PIMP

Fucking old slimy guy. this story proves again and again that ALL REPUBLICANS IN DC ARE CORRUPT.

[jeff30997]

89. "a man of honor "

And a great butt-kisser.Go McClown!

[hasssan1]

90. NICE PIX

I LOVE THE PIC.:bounce:

[mcg]

93. Vicki Iseman's Bio Pulled From Web (Huffington Post)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/20/vicki-isemans-bio-pulled_n_87698.html



"Within hours of the New York Times story going public, Vicki Iseman's bio was pulled from the web site of her firm, Alcade and Faye."

Includes a screenshot of her bio page.

[Eurobabe]

95. An old tiger can't change it's stripes. n/t

[Politicalboi]

97. Mittens Moment

I think that is why Mittens suspended his campaign. You watch he'll be back by Ohio and Texas. The Repigs know McCain can't win with Obama so they want him to back out if it gets too messy. Also the Keating 5 has been slipping in on msnbc. And they might venture into Mrs. Stepford's drug abuse. And B1 Bomber Bob Dornan and other POW's have some info on McCain about his service.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4930255321987211475

[jeff30997]

98. So...

Should we call them Swift Flyers for truth ?

[mcg]

102. 'he said he dated an exotic dancer named "Marie the Flame Thrower of Florida"'

http://www.attytood.com/2007/02/marie_the_flame_thrower_of_flo_1.html

"Senator McCain has a long legislative record of supporting abstinence-based initiatives in his record in the U.S. Senate," said Trey Walker, McCain's South Carolina campaign director. "He thinks that abstinence is healthier and should be promoted in our society for young people."

The event is to follow McCain's appearance at a hot dog and ice cream social.

We wonder if part of McCain's sermon was "do as I say, not as I do"? Hours before McCain's appearance, our friend Dick Polman dropped this tasty morsel in an excellent Sunday column on McCain's various flip-flops:

I remember one frigid New Hampshire night, somewhere along Interstate 93. McCain held court, and we crowded around. He ruminated a bit about health care (he confessed that the issue bored him), gossiped about some people he didn't like (signaling his distaste by rolling his eyes), reminisced about his days as a carousing Navy flyboy (he said he dated an exotic dancer named "Marie the Flame Thrower of Florida"), and there were rollicking good vibes as we rolled along.

[Cherchez la Femme]

101. Tweety et.al. said

as (ersatz) pro-McCain 'evidence' that 'BOTH parties denied it'
so therefore it MUST be false, right?

Eh? Ain't that so?? Don't that make perfect sense?
Well, Mr. Matthews, I'M sold I can tell you! :rofl:

that deserves a few more: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


Jeebus Tap-Dancing Kee-Rise how thin, how LAME can you get??