McCain Iseman scandal

From AJS.COM

The election news is spinning in high gear, and the Republican primaries have recently gotten some unwanted attention. You may or may not be aware of the recent tempest in a teacup over Sen. McCain's possible romantic involvement with a lobbyist. I was watching this story with some interest, and was frustrated that none of the major news outlets seemed to be covering the story in depth. That is, they were not discussing what the original article said, only spring-boarding off of the hint of scandal and then quoting everyone's denials.[1]

So, I went and read the original New York Times article, For McCain, self-confidence on ethics has risk. At first, I was a bit stunned. The article is far, far tamer than the rest of the media made it out to be, and far from an attack on the Senator, it's actually fairly level headed. I found this to be the most enlightening part, when it comes to what was being said about the "relationship":

"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. [...] But the concerns about Mr. McCain’s relationship with Ms. Iseman underscored an enduring paradox of his post-Keating career. Even as he has vowed to hold himself to the highest ethical standards, his confidence in his own integrity has sometimes seemed to blind him to potentially embarrassing conflicts of interest."

Read that carefully. The NY Times is pretty clear on this: there was no hard evidence of a relationship, and there was no deep scandal to be had. Simply put, it was a broader concern over what might be characterized as lack of political savvy when dealing with issues of public appearance.

The NY Times is a great paper, and I encourage everyone to read it. I can't say nearly so much for the "news" organizations like CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and so on that have made this sound like some sort of mean-spirited smear campaign against the Senator.