With Friends Like These ...

Does the author of this article seriously want his readers to believe that McCain is more influenced by lobbyists than are Clinton or Obama? Nonsense. There are serious reasons why someone might vote for either Democratic nominee over McCain: They disagree with his positions on Iraq, Healthcare, civil rights, economic policy, etc. We need to hear serious debate on these issues. Unsubstantiated charges of scandal only keep the focus off from issues that should decide this election.

Seems like the initial NYT interest in the McCain lobbiest story was triggered back in Nov/Dec. At that time the only campaign interested in attacking McCain was not Clinton or Obama, it was Romney. I believe that is who fed this story to the NYT.

@gigamick and @ Nuculer George:
Yes I did read the article, and yes I do care about the facts. So, please point to a fact - let me know (and everyone else reading) what you believe I need to know. I don't see it in the article - please point it out to me. And uhhh... what's with the whole "right-wing smoke screen artist" comment? Please chill out. Instead, show me the substance I am missing in the article.

you can THANK BUSH and all the citizens who criticized their brothers for being unpatriotic for criticizing this administration. WELCOME TO THE HELL you voted FOR. I hope that you all learned a lesson and do not vote for McCAIN.
McCAIN is not economically grounded and will continue BUSH policies. ECONOMIC FEUDALISM. STAGNATION OCCURS WHEN THE GOVERNMENT RIps off it's own people.

How much longer can Fineman, Isikoff and the other fair journalist continue to ignore the Larry Sinclair issue. The story is going to get broken soon, maybe after Obama ties up the nomination, just like NYT and Newsweek are trying to do to McCain. It will be interesting to see how long these pariahs can turn their back on the Sinclair issue and try to pretend Clinton and McCain are the real villans

Mccaine is a man who is "trying" to characterize himself as a straight-talking and likable "guy", and loves to promote himself as a being a war-hero. He laso happens to be married to an extremely weathy "heiress", and in reality is a guy who simply got shot down and was captured during an illegal war (Vietnam, like Iraq, was a war promoted by lies, and utter the ineptness of ALL our then politicians).

Being a highly trained fighter pilot, his entire early life was one as a man who blindly followed orders to accomlish a "mission", right or wrong. the fact is, if mccaine wastruly a straight-talking, self-thinking man with guts, he would have long ago spoke out against the Vietnam war, and the Iraq war for that matter. However, mccaine is a odd mix of elitism and self-serving selfishness, and is the very last thing we need as a president after the 8 year bush-fiasco of criminal lies and elitist favoritisms. and, mek no mistakes, mccain is actually just a false front: a leeming-like PNC- bush patsy. With b ush-senior endorsing mccaine, what you will see next is "jeb bush" being slowly shoe-horned into the "promoted" gop candidate for the VP slot. And, god forbid, if mccaine were to somehow become president (by yet another bush-sneior orchestrated theft of the election process), you can bet he would not last-out the first term, and we'd see jeb ascend to the white house -- which ha salwys been the "master" PNAC corrupted, bush-senior plan.

Mccaine is a man who is "trying" to characterize himself as a straight-talking and likable "guy", and loves to promote himself as a being a war-hero. He laso happens to be married to an extremely weathy "heiress", and in reality is a guy who simply got shot down and was captured during an illegal war (Vietnam, like Iraq, was a war promoted by lies, and utter the ineptness of ALL our then politicians).

Being a highly trained fighter pilot, his entire early life was one as a man who blindly followed orders to accomlish a "mission", right or wrong. the fact is, if mccaine wastruly a straight-talking, self-thinking man with guts, he would have long ago spoke out against the Vietnam war, and the Iraq war for that matter. However, mccaine is a odd mix of elitism and self-serving selfishness, and is the very last thing we need as a president after the 8 year bush-fiasco of criminal lies and elitist favoritisms. and, mek no mistakes, mccain is actually just a false front: a leeming-like PNC- bush patsy. With b ush-senior endorsing mccaine, what you will see next is "jeb bush" being slowly shoe-horned into the "promoted" gop candidate for the VP slot. And, god forbid, if mccaine were to somehow become president (by yet another bush-sneior orchestrated theft of the election process), you can bet he would not last-out the first term, and we'd see jeb ascend to the white house -- which ha salwys been the "master" PNAC corrupted, bush-senior plan.

@schnoodle5... you are obviously right, but the sex tale is really just the MacGuffin to the real issue, which is McCain's 25 year history of lobbyist corruption. I'd urge everyone to read a well-researched analysis of John McCain's (continued) involvement in the Jack Abramoff cover up on the blog DailyKos: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/23/03912/3990
McCain is the epitome of political corruption, just as he has been since his involvement in the ???Keating Five??? scandal starting back in 1982! Instead of focusing on one misstep made by the NYT, take a moment to instead consider the larger issue of widespread corruption due to our current lobbyist situation in Washington. If only a conscientious media outlet had the fortitude to pick this story up, it would really expose how corrupt McCain really is...

This McCain thing has the smell of conservative dirty tricks on it. Can I put such things past people who would rather lose the WH than allow a centrist Republican to try for it?

I can never understand why the U.S. press continues to peek into the bedrooms of your Presidents and/or Presidential candidates. Who cares who Bill Clinton or John McCain slept with or didn't sleep with? That is a matter left between themselves and their spouses. Much more important are the policies of your Presidents and Presidential candidates. Former Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, had a daughter outside of marriage, Presidents and Prime Ministers all over the world have mistresses and children out of wedlock....WHO CARES??? Unlike that "Good Christian" they aren't starting pre-emptive wars and lying about killing thousands of innocent people. Come on, U.S. Press, get real and report the 'REAL NEWS"

I smell Karl rove and Rush Limbaugh in this. Both are so conservative that each would rather lose to the Dems rather than help a fellow Republican more centrist than they are succede.

All winter long, reporters seeking to find out more about the relationship between Iseman and McCain tried to track down Mark Buse, who had been the commerce-committee chief of staff in 1999. Buse had become a lobbyist for a time but appeared to have left that job and gone to ground, or at least avoided the press. In recent weeks, however, Buse re-emerged. He had just been hired by McCain to run his Senate office. Buse

tells NEWSWEEK that he recalled Iseman's coming by his office and leaving briefing material that was used by Buse to help draft letters under McCain's signature. Nothing unusual here, he says: "That's Lobbying 101."

Yes, the plan is to always silence the harmful messenger by putting them on your payroll. John McCAin you are as transparent as a window pane old stick.

Nolancam and so many other posters on this site could care less about the facts and instead are here just to defend their "team". I'm a registered Rupublican, but am for one disgusted by the hopelessness of our governmental regime. McCain has a history of lobbyist wrongdoing and corruption dating back over 25 years. This cable scenario sounds almost identical to his involvement with Charles Keating starting back in 1982.

McCain himself said about the matter that "his relationship with Paxson???flying on the corporate jet, taking $20,000 in campaign contributions???would "absolutely" look corrupt to the ordinary voter." Even though he may not have used his position to influence the FCC decision, it looked corrupt. It shows he has the standard Republican attitude of "the rules don't apply to me because I'm the good guy".

Sorry for the double-post, I didn't think it worked the first time :(

So let me get this straight... McCain's crime is encouraging the FCC to make a decision one way or the other about the lobbyist's request? That he didn't even encourge the FCC to decide in the lobbyist's favor? What a non-story. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Let me get this straight... McCain's crime is writting a letter to FCC encouraging them to make a decision one way or the other? Not even encouraging which way the FCC should decide? zzzzzzzzzzzzz What a non-story. Now a story about William J. Johnson hiding FBI's money in his freezer - that's a story.