Feeding Frenzy
by DemFromCT
Thu Feb 21, 2008 at 06:27:19 AM PDT
That's how the NY Daily News describes it.
Get ready for a feeding frenzy, with the press as the sharks and John McCain as the bloody chum...
All that said, the political damage to McCain will be considerable. His lawyer and staff issued fiery denunciations of The Times last night and swore McCain never violated the high principles for which he is known.
The campaign also said McCain would address the article today in a public appearance, but one aide said McCain would not take questions. That would be a gigantic mistake that would feed the media's hunger and suggest a level of guilt. Like a suspect invoking the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination, McCain would be suggesting he has something to hide.
However McCain handles the story, it's not going to be a pretty sight. Then again, with numerous surprises in the campaign so far, it'll be par for the wacky course.
The conservative tabloid that helped sink Rudy by covering his Judith Nathan affair doesn't think the story is going away... and they're right. Just a smattering this am:
The Times has an on-the-record confirmation from John Weaver, McCain's former top strategist, regarding an aide to the senator warning Iseman at a Union Station meeting to stay away from the boss. Weaver e-mailed that he arranged the meeting after "a discussion among the campaign leadership" about her...
The McCain/Bennett strategy, of course, is to make the Times the issue. The senator's statement doesn't deny any of the specifics in the piece.
As for the political fallout, the issue should be the confirmable facts and what they say, or don't say, about McCain's run for the presidency. In Bill Clinton's case it turned out to be quite relevant, and he had sexual relations with that woman, and some others. In this case, we have two people who deny such a relationship.
And there's over 500 other stories as well.
CBS: Starting Gate: McCain's First Test
CNN: McCain denies inappropriate relationship with lobbyist
Houston Chronicle: McCain's ties to female lobbyist in question
Seattle Times: McCain lobbyist ties ruffled aides in 1999
Okay, so it's out there. What's it mean? It means that for the next few news cycles, John McCain, Mr. Stubborn, the Keating 5 scandal figure, gets to defend his character nationwide. Is that important? Sure it is. Voters care about character, and it's one thing to be a maverick (already hurting McCain in solidifying the reluctant GOP base that doesn't care for mavericks) and another to be painted as just another powerful politician who makes his own rules to benefit himself and his circle (the optics of the case), and uses his power to try and kill an unpleasant story. That's especially true with the mythical GOP values voter, who didn't care for Rudy's personal life, and is suspicious of McCain to begin with.
The optics here are terrible for McCain, particularly when the Huckabee votes lately have looked like a GOP protest vote. This is just when McCain needed to make inroads with conservatives and unite his party. That projects now on hold for a few days while McCain does damage control. GOP voters are likely to hold their noise and vote for whomever the party puts up, but if you're looking for a reason why the GOP isn't too enthusiastic this year, the feeding frenzy might be just another reason.
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