McCain and the Lobbyist -- It's Not Just About Sex

So John McCain avoided the media while touring an auto plant in Wayne on Thursday (February 21, 2008).

McCain, of course, was done taking questions about his relationship with a female lobbyist that The New York Times said had become so worrisome to his staff during his 2000 presidential campaign that they took steps to break up the relationship.

At a morning news conference in Ohio, McCain already had denied any sort of improper relationship with Vicki Iseman. It looks a little as though his handlers figure that Michigan voters didn't need to hear the denials since they already have voted, while Ohio residents have not.

This is unfamiliar territory for McCain. He's always had a cozy relationship with the media, but snubbing reporters as he did Thursday may change that.

At this point, it's hard to say what the story means for McCain's future. If the media remains focused on whether there is a sexual relationship and there are no further revelations, the story probably will have limited impact.

But if the media looks at the bigger story -- the idea of Mr. Clean McCain riding around in corporate jets with a lobbyist, male or female -- it could present a very unfavorable development.

It might begin to puncture the myth of McCain as a "straight talker" and not just another politician. McCain staffers interviewed for the story said they thought his relationship with the lobbyist would undermine his campaign image as someone who shunned special interests. You bet it would have.

And it might do the same in this campaign. Barack Obama is campaigning on a platform of changing the way Washington does business. He takes no funds from political action committees. And now he can add a new line to his speeches -- about how he doesn't ride around the country on corporate jets with lobbyists like that other guy.

McCain has handed Obama a potent picture of the differences between them, if indeed those two do end up being the candidates.

But as long as the media looks at this as merely a potential sex scandal, and not as a sign of McCain hypocrisy about political reform and ties to special interests, damage to McCain's "straight talk" image will be limited.

P.S. Rep. Mike Rogers is doing his best to spin this story as only about sex. The Livingston Press and Argus, in its on-line edition on Thursday, asked Rogers about the alleged "romantic relationship." Rogers said the story was disgusting and that the newspaper had no proof McCain did anything wrong.

The newspaper totally missed the angle of the propriety of lawmakers who claim to be on the side of the people riding around in corporate jets with lobbyists.