# NYT to air McCains affair with Lobbyist tomorrow. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 21, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513 "2008-02-21T04:24:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/61 "2008-02-21T21:58:03Z")
I doubt it. There were very credible stories about Bill Clinton’s fooling around, and he still actually won the election. Not to mention that was 16 years ago, and people are less uptight now than they were then. None of this stuff is new, either. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/62 "2008-02-21T22:04:36Z")
And wasting no time, the McCain camp is already using the story to raise some [mula](http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/already_mccain_raising_money_o.php), accusing the Tiimes of, what else, a liberal bias. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/63 "2008-02-21T22:16:56Z")
[QUOTE=El Gui] And wasting no time, the McCain camp is already using the story to raise some [mula](http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/already_mccain_raising_money_o.php)… [/QUOTE] Piffle. What’ll that get him up to for February, maybe $13 million? A new Record. Woot! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/64 "2008-02-21T23:05:21Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Besides, McCain isn’t running against anybody for quite some time to come. [/QUOTE] To hear him tell it, he’s running against Obama now. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/65 "2008-02-21T23:06:57Z")
[QUOTE=El Gui] And wasting no time, the McCain camp is already using the story to raise some [mula](http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/already_mccain_raising_money_o.php), accusing the Tiimes of, what else, a liberal bias. [/QUOTE] The New Republic comments: > [@](#): > > Anyone notice anything odd? Chairman Mike goes on and on about the venality of the liberal MSM—but never mentions what exactly it is that the Times has done. Obviously, the RNC doesn’t want to detail the allegations being leveled at its presumptive nominee. But it tells you something about the committee’s view of its supporters that Duncan’s solicitation need not bother with even a cursory explanation of the Times’s latest transgression. (McCain’s name appears doesn’t even appear in the email!) Simply brandish the phrase “liberal media,” and the party faithful are expected to whip out their checkbooks, no questions asked. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/66 "2008-02-21T23:41:30Z")
> [@](#): > > the party faithful are expected to whip out their checkbooks, no questions asked. Not likely when [Romney is still getting 21%](http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-02-19-mccain-washington_N.htm) of the vote in primaries, to say nothing of still-running Huckabee. There appears to be a sizeable GOP faction which is discontent with McCain. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/67 "2008-02-21T23:48:28Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] I doubt it. There were very credible stories about Bill Clinton’s fooling around, and he still actually won the election. Not to mention that was 16 years ago, and people are less uptight now than they were then. None of this stuff is new, either. [/QUOTE] If there is anything to the story, remember the conservatives who are iffy about him anyway are far more likely to get bent out of shape about this than Bill’s base. Divorce no longer matters thanks to St. Ron, messing around between marriages is no doubt ok, but adultery? (I haven’t had time to read the Times article yet, but considering how quickly he move between wives, I assume that’s what the charge is.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/68 "2008-02-22T00:06:50Z")
One of the goals of my life is to become involved in a sordid, steamy sex scandal. If it can happen while in my 70s , so much the better! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/69 "2008-02-22T00:14:12Z")
If it is true ,it means he is probably healthy enough to be prez. ---
**Author:** ![ForumBot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/70 "2008-02-22T00:26:09Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] This is journalism? I don’t like McCain, don’t plan to vote for him, but if it turned out he had a three-way with the lobbyist and Anson “Potsie” Williams I couldn’t care less unless it had _provable_ political influence peddling. [/QUOTE] Really? It strikes me as a direct conflict of interest. I don’t like my doctors getting free trips to the bahamas from drug companies for the same reason. Does it happen? Yes, for doctors and politicans alike. But for a man who espouses such strong values of ethics reforms in regards to how lobbyists may influence politicians, it strikes me as A Bad Thing. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/71 "2008-02-22T00:26:58Z")
The alleged affair happened almost ten years ago. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/72 "2008-02-22T00:30:46Z")
[Howard Dean comes out swinging](http://nationaljournal.com/onair/transcripts/080221_dean_howard.htm): > [@](#): > > I have no idea whether the affair story is true or not, and I don’t care. What I do care about is John McCain – and this has been well-documented – is talking all the time about being a reformer and a maverick, and in fact, he has taken thousands of dollars from corporations, ridden on their corporate jets, and then turned around and tried to do favors for them and get projects approved. He has tons of lobbyists on his staff. This is a guy who is very close to the lobbyist community, a guy who has been documented again and again by taking contributions and then doing favors for it. This is not a guy who is a reformer. This is a guy who has been in Washington for 25 years and wants to give us four more years of the same, and I don’t think we need that… > > …This goes all the way back to the Keating Five Scandal and the S & L scandals, where he took a hundred thousand donations, rode on corporate jets and then intervened on Charles Keating’s behalf – and again and again we see this. We even saw – it’s so hypocritical – we even saw that he is trying to harass Barack Obama about whether he’s going to take public financing in the campaign, and he forewent his own public financing in the primaries after getting a loan, based on the idea that he might take public financing. This is not a guy who is a reformer. He talks about change, and he makes a big deal about not being like Bush when in fact he is Bush. He voted for Bush’s tax cuts after saying he didn’t, and has been responsible for a $6 trillion national debt that our children are going to have to pay. He thinks we ought to stay in Iraq for 100 years. He thought it was great that the president vetoed health care for our kids under 18. This is four more years of George Bush, and I don’t think the American people are going to buy it. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/73 "2008-02-22T00:53:38Z")
“He thinks we ought to stay in Iraq for 100 years.” This is not intellectually honest. Which is too bad, because it undermines a strong response. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/74 "2008-02-22T01:09:11Z")
I don’t know a whole lot about this guys, but maybe someone who knows this kind of stuff will help me out here. What’s the deal with Vicky Iseman? She’s not dead, I just checked on Wikipedia. Why doesn’t she say something about this? Her silence is…well, weird. How come she doesn’t come out and confirm or deny? ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/75 "2008-02-22T01:14:50Z")
She has spoken up, and said it wasn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/76 "2008-02-22T01:16:35Z")
[QUOTE=Merkwurdigliebe] I don’t know a whole lot about this guys, but maybe someone who knows this kind of stuff will help me out here. What’s the deal with Vicky Iseman? She’s not dead, I just checked on Wikipedia. Why doesn’t she say something about this? Her silence is…well, weird. How come she doesn’t come out and confirm or deny? [/QUOTE] Don’t have a cite for it, but I saw on CNN (TV broadcast) today that her firm came out with a strongly worded denial of everything. If I were her I’d lay low till it all blows over. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/77 "2008-02-22T01:17:00Z")
The scandel mongering NYT will be fatally embarassed when it is revealed that the charges are impossible, as McCain suffered a radical penictomy at the hands of the N Vietnamese (under instructions from Commissar Fonda). ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/78 "2008-02-22T06:06:20Z")
I just read the article, and it sure isn’t the scandal people are saying. All it said was that his aides were worried that he was having an affair, because she was hanging around the office all the time like a 10th grader with a crush. It never said they were, and never even said that anyone claimed they were. The main thrust was that he is so sure of his probity that he doesn’t see stuff he does that looks suspicious as suspicious. Vote for lobbyists positions after free trips? Only if he supports them, and he isn’t 100% in their grip. Whoopee, every politician says that. The article never says that he is particularly evil, but I can see that if he’s running on an “I’m better than most politicians” platform why he’d be upset. I was expecting something a lot juicier. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/79 "2008-02-22T07:52:18Z")
Chris Matthews said that the NYT violated their own policy by publishing this story. Their policy is not to publish a story using anonymous sources unless they give a reason for using anonymous sources. For some of you ten years may seem like a lifetime ago. For others, it is the day before yesterday. Certainly John McCain’s entire record of public service is to be considered. Whether or not you consider how he conducts his personal life is up to you. I think character matters and some personal choices reflect character. What is most at issue for me in this story is whether or not his influence can be bought in one way or another. Yes, that matters big time. So does hypocrisy. My understanding is that one of the men who investigated the Keating 5 and helped to determine that McCain should not be indicted is Robert Bennett – the man who is now serving as his attorney. Does anyone know if he is related to William Bennett? They certainly look alike. FTR, I have liked McCain for a long time. I will be voting for Obama, but the Republicans could do worse. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2008, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513/80 "2008-02-22T08:09:37Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] Chris Matthews said that the NYT violated their own policy by publishing this story. Their policy is not to publish a story using anonymous sources unless they give a reason for using anonymous sources. For some of you ten years may seem like a lifetime ago. For others, it is the day before yesterday. Certainly John McCain’s entire record of public service is to be considered. Whether or not you consider how he conducts his personal life is up to you. I think character matters and some personal choices reflect character. What is most at issue for me in this story is whether or not his influence can be bought in one way or another. Yes, that matters big time. So does hypocrisy. My understanding is that one of the men who investigated the Keating 5 and helped to determine that McCain should not be indicted is Robert Bennett – the man who is now serving as his attorney. Does anyone know if he is related to William Bennett? They certainly look alike. FTR, I have liked McCain for a long time. I will be voting for Obama, but the Republicans could do worse. [/QUOTE] Bob is William’s older brother. Wikipedia entry- > **[Robert S. Bennett](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_S._Bennett)** > > Robert Stephen Bennett (August 2, 1939 – September 10, 2023) was an American attorney. He is best known for having represented President Bill Clinton during the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal. > Robert Stephen Bennett was born on August 2, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Brooklyn Preparatory School in 1957. He received his B.A. from Georgetown University in 1961, where he was a member of the Philodemic Society, his LL.B. from Georgetown in 1964, and his LL.M from Harvard Law School in 196... "Robert S. Bennett (born 1939) is an American attorney best known for representing President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky investigation. Bennett is also famous for representing Judith Miller in the Valerie Plame case, Caspar Weinberger of Iran Contra fame, Clark Clifford in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal, and Paul Wolfowitz in the World Bank Scandal. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from Brooklyn Prep in 1957. Bennett received his B.A. from Georgetown University in 1961, his LL.B. from Georgetown in 1964, and his LL.M. from Harvard University in 1965. From 1965 to 1967, he served as a clerk for Howard F. Corcoran, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. After graduating from law school, Bennett served as assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. He then went on to Hogan & Hartson, where he worked in the litigation department. He is a partner with the firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Washington, D.C. Bennett served as a member of the National Review Board for the Protection of Children & Young People, created by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, from 2002 to 2004. He is the older brother of William J. Bennett, former U.S. secretary of education for President Ronald Reagan. In 2008, he represents John McCain in defense of allegations from The New York Times of an improper relationship with a Washington lobbyist during the 2000 presidential campaign. He is also the author of In The Ring: The Trials of a Washington Lawyer, published in 2008." [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-to-air-mccains-affair-with-lobbyist-tomorrow/438513.md?page=5)