Sen. McCain and the case of the lobbyist
Arizona Sen. John McCain defends himself against allegations of a romantic relationship with a female lobbyist
February 21, 2008
By Kelsey Hayes
If you've had a peek at the New York Times or any other news organization this morning, you'll notice that the lead story involves Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and a female lobbyist, Vicki Iseman. According to the article, McCain and Iseman became involved during McCain's first presidential run eight years ago. Allegedly, the relationship worried McCain's aides so much that they had to actively intervene to prevent a scandal.
The article is not without controversy, obviously. Times people acknowledged that they've seen sitting on the story, and the article makes use of anonymous sources. It begs the question of how coincidental it is to run the story now, when McCain has clawed his way to the top of the Republican presidential field.
McCain's reps called the article a "hit job" and likened it to an organized smear campaign. For his part, McCain gave a press conference this morning (with his wife Cindy next to him), calling the entire story false. McCain was admittedly subdued and quietly mumbled his way through the denial, but the point was there.
Ironically, whether McCain cheated on his wife with Iseman may not be the biggest issue. Iseman represented clients who frequently made Senate floor appearances arguing for some legislation or another. For McCain to have any kind of relationship with Iseman, however platonic and friendly, is a severe conflict of interest.
It may not be McCain's reputation of marital fidelity on the line (he admits to having extramarital affairs during his first marriage), but rather his reputation as a maverick and an enemy of corporate interests. The Times reports that McCain had trips on corporate jets owned by Iseman's clients, for example. McCain has been involved in such scandals before, notably during the savings and loan scandal as one of the so-called Keating Five nearly 20 years ago.
The Republican party's reputation of 'family values' not withstanding (I feel obligated to point out that, unlike most of the Republican candidates, both remaining Democratic candidates have stayed with their first spouses), the ethical questions of this case may come back to haunt McCain, especially given Sen. Barack Obama's championing of ethics reform.
At this point, it's too early to tell if anything will come of this, or if it's just much ado about nothing. On the one hand, I have to ask what compelled the Times (and now the Washington Post) to hold the story until this precise time. On the other, what's McCain supposed to say? "Yes, I cheated on my wife (again)"?
Discussion
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So it wasn't just a rumor, eh? Looks like your pops pulled through!
McCain's reps called it a "hit job." Hah, I bet it was!
Yeah, my dad was about three hours ahead of CNN on that one.
Personally I think it's a pretty weak argument until at least one 'source' gets named. I see no reason for the anonymity, as there's no national security risk and the event occurred so long ago.
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