"The Republican saviour is looking rattled" - John McCain’s denials start to unravel

[kpete]

This episode exposes, more clearly than ever, the business model for big-time conservative activism: Its lifeblood is this us-against-them mentality. It needs an enemy, be it The New York Times, or Obama, or secularism or illegal immigrants.

What conservatives are most concerned about is that additional details will emerge contradicting McCain’s denial of the entire story, especially the most salacious part. What’s not clear is if rank-and-file Republicans share their leaders’ dismissive view of the episode right now.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8649.html

*************************

From The Sunday TimesFebruary 24, 2008

John McCain’s denials start to unravel in tale of the blonde lobbyist
The Republican saviour is looking rattled after claims of a sex for favours scandal

Sarah Baxter

If anything was going to derail John McCain’s White House bid, it was the fear that he was too old to be president, not the likelihood of being embroiled in a sex and favours scandal. But when the Arizona senator reached for the lawyer who steered Bill Clinton through his women troubles, it was a sign that he was seriously rattled.

At the moment that the race was shaping up to be an epic contest between Barack Obama and McCain – the future versus the past, as Obama would have it, or naivety versus experience, as McCain prefers to frame it – the scandal hit the newsstands. After an early, highly successful counterattack, McCain was accused this weekend of being economical with the truth as far as some aspects of the story were concerned.

The essence of the tale is fairly simple. Vicki Iseman, 40, a blonde telecommunications lobbyist, became friends with McCain, 71, eight years ago. Some advisers thought the relationship might be romantic.

There is no evidence of an affair but they were certainly cosy. Iseman accompanied him to fundraisers, travelled with him on a client’s jet and appeared to trade on her relationship with him to such an extent that McCain’s senior advisers warned her to back off.

more at:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3423459.ece

[acmavm]

1. I think we're being scammed by the NYT, as usual. They led with this

unprovable story about an 'affair' which can be semi-discredited (there's no damn blue dress with funky stains on it as a souvenir of happy days). But they know that Senator No-Ethics has not changed his stripes since the days of Charles Keating so they come out with this unprovable one to cover his ass? How? By bringing it out now, by printing something shaky so that it will look like he was being sandbagged and swiftboated thereby making anything else that comes out as looking staged and false, and ensuring that his love life with every lobbyist that ever said hello to the man is in the open NOW and not during the actual election campaign when it would be devastating.

Democrats need to remember: THE NEW YORK TIMES IS NOT OUR FRIEND.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. You're exactly right.

Red herring time.

It's the telcoms, the neo-Keatingism, etc., not the sex.

Whjy don't people ever figger out that when stories first show up in Drudge, they're ALWAYS part of some dirty right-wing strategy?