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Those Damn Sexy Lobbyists!! (shaking fist)

By glanko

So this is basically two posts in one. First, for EU readers in a cave, undersea, or trapped in an alternative dimension, the New York Times has run a piece on McCain that contrasts his reformer rhetoric against the backdrop of his legislative record.

The article suggests that McCain did favors for a comely lobbyist and, possibly, had an affair with her during his 1999-2000 presidential primary run. Indeed, it's quite hard to pin down what, exactly, is the article's point - it seems to me that the general allegations of McCain's ties to lobbyists are the protective highbrow outer coating for a story that might be considered, at its lurid core, an old-fashioned tabloid sex allegation.

The McCain camp has vehemently denied the allegations and hit back hard, accusing the NYT of conducting a "smear campaign" and a "hit job" on the Senator. The hard line seems to be working, and this confrontational tone has buried headlines of the actual charges, and instead replaced them with allusions of a "war" between the NYT and McCain.

This could prove to be a very effective strategy, as the enemy of the NYT is certain to endear McCain to many on the right. For example, FOX News, normally unfriendly to McCain, has challenged the propriety of running the story given the lack of solid information or named sources. Other media outlets have as well.

As effective as his stern rebuke could prove with conservatives, it is useful only insofar as these allegations are unfounded; the NYT will dig hard into McCain's past to buttress this story (they've been working on it for a long while) and there's no telling what they might find in that closet.

So, for the McCain camp in the next few weeks, no news is good news.

And my favorite comment (sorry, couldn't resist):

"So, if McCain can be accused of an affair just because he spent a lot of time with a lobbyist...hasn't he been shagging Tim Russert for 8 years? Not to mention damn near every journalist within 800 miles of D.C.?"

Full post as published by Expressio Unius on February 21, 2008 (boomark / email).