Report: McCain Had Romantic Relationship With Lobbyist

Wow, it didn't take the New York Times long to turn on their darling. It's interesting how they run this story after McCain becomes the de facto Republican nominee, isn't it?

TOLEDO, Ohio - John McCain emphatically denied a romantic relationship with a female telecommunications lobbyist on Thursday and said a report by The New York Times suggesting favoritism for her clients is "not true."

"I'm very disappointed in the article. It's not true," the likely Republican presidential nominee said as his wife, Cindy, stood beside him during a news conference called to address the matter.

"I've served this nation honorably for more than half a century," said McCain, a four-term Arizona senator and former Navy pilot. "At no time have I ever done anything that would betray the public trust."

McCain described the woman in question, lobbyist Vicki Iseman, as a friend.

The newspaper quoted anonymous aides as saying they had urged McCain and Iseman to stay away from each other prior to his failed presidential campaign in 2000. In its own follow-up story, The Washington Post quoted longtime aide John Weaver, who split with McCain last year, as saying he met with lobbyist Iseman and urged her to steer clear of McCain. (H/T - AP via Yahoo!)

All I want to know it this: is the lobbyist hot? I am really tired of Presidential candidates - and candidates who become President - fooling around with pigs. Barack Obama is correct: we need change. We need better looking broads than Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky.

And speaking of Lewinsky, the left-wing wackos are all over this like Clinton on a cigar:

It's full employment for wingnut mouthpieces this morning, and the stores are sold out of flag lapel pins. If you've got a suit and hankering to attack the media, you can get yourself on TV this morning to say John McCain is innocent The New York Times made it up because they're liberal.

Whatever. The obvious play here is that it's not John McCain's fault (or, possibly, his wang's), but the Times' fault for reporting on it. The media, as usual, is in for the same kind of bullying and beating the Congress has gotten from the Bush "administration" for the last seven years. If you dare to do your job, we will do our damnedest to make you afraid to get out of bed in the morning. (Daily Kos)

Is anyone else choking on the irony here? A Presidential candidate is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with another woman. The candidate denies it, the media is whipped into a frenzy, and the candidate's lick spittles come out in droves to rip said media.

Paging Mr. Clinton . . . Please pick up the white courtesy phone . . .

Regular readers of SYLG know I am not a McCain fan. I'll probably vote for him, because Hillary Clinton is a socialist, and Barack Obama is the most liberal senator in congress. That being said, I have a real problem with stories like these because they serve no purpose. So what if he had an affair with a lobbyist? The only person who would care about this is his wife and family. Now, if you can prove that McCain gave Iseman access and influence as a result of the relationship, then you have a story. (As it stands now, there are only allegations that McCain backed legislation beneficial to her.) Until then, this story is a non-issue, in my opinion.

And, for the record, I think the Monica Lewinsky "scandal" was nonsense, too. My beef with that story is that President Clinton perjured himself. Call me a traditionalist, but I get turned off when the POTUS commits a felony.

(Emperor Misha has more HERE.)