"The biggest story of the campaign"

That's how the Guardian describes the New York Times revelation that a lobbying firm owned by John McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis "was being paid $15,000 a month by Freddie Mac until last month.":

The story is this. The lobbying firm of Rick Davis, the manager, was being paid $15,000 a month by Freddie Mac until last month. That fact is a direct contradiction of words McCain had spoken Sunday night. At that time, responding to a Times story being prepared for Monday's paper revealing that Davis had been the head of a lobbying consortium led by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae until 2005, McCain said Davis had done no further work for either mortgage giant.

Someone's lying - either Davis to McCain, or McCain to the public. I trust you see the problem here.

Who lied to whom? This is the kind of thing we might not know for a while, or maybe never. My hunch would be that Davis concealed it from McCain and that McCain, as is his wont, just winged it Sunday night, without really caring whether it was true, because that's what he does. But let me clearly label that a hunch. I don't know. But it doesn't really matter.
The author (Michael Tomasky) thinks Davis has to go. If the Times allegations are true, he's probably right. But I don't agree with the characterization of the story as "the biggest political story of the general-election campaign so far."

Yes, a campaign aide taking money from a robber baron in Robin Hood drag looks bad, especially when it was denied. (Whether the "everybody else did it" defense will work is questionable.)

But (IMO) nothing could top a candidate himself working with an unrepetentant terrorist to push radicalism on school kids.

Obama can't say everybody else did that, can he?

MORE: As commenter Debbie points out below, the McCain campaign says the Times's allegation is not true (surprised, anyone?):

...the allegation is demonstrably false. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis separated from his consulting firm, Davis Manafort, in 2006. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis has seen no income from Davis Manafort since 2006. Zero. Mr. Davis has received no salary or compensation since 2006. Mr. Davis has received no profit or partner distributions from that firm on any basis -- weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual -- since 2006. Again, zero. Neither has Mr. Davis received any equity in the firm based on profits derived since his financial separation from Davis Manafort in 2006.

Further, and missing from the Times' reporting, Mr. Davis has never -- never -- been a lobbyist for either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Mr. Davis has not served as a registered lobbyist since 2005.

Though these facts are a matter of public record, the New York Times, in what can only be explained as a willful disregard of the truth, failed to research this story or present any semblance of a fairminded treatment of the facts closely at hand. The paper did manage to report one interesting but irrelevant fact: Mr. Davis did participate in a roundtable discussion on the political scene with...Paul Begala.

Again, let us be clear: The New York Times -- in the absence of any supporting evidence -- has insinuated some kind of impropriety on the part of Senator McCain and Rick Davis. But entirely missing from the story is any significant mention of Senator McCain's long advocacy for, and co-sponsorship of legislation to enact, stricter oversight and regulation of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- dating back to 2006. Please see the attached floor statement on this issue by Senator McCain from 2006.

Not surprisingly, The Times has studiously ignored Obama's campaign people:
The New York Times has never published a single investigative piece, factually correct or otherwise, examining the relationship between Obama campaign chief strategist David Axelrod, his consulting and lobbying clients, and Senator Obama. Likewise, the New York Times never published an investigative report, factually correct or otherwise, examining the relationship between Former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson and Senator Obama, who appointed Johnson head of his VP search committee, until the writing was on the wall and Johnson was under fire following reports from actual news organizations that he had received preferential loans from predatory mortgage lender Countrywide.

posted by Eric on 09.24.08 at 08:52 AM





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Comments

Looks like Sen Reach Across the Aisle is about to be crucified by his many dear friends in Congress who have many dear friends in the media.

McCain should have done a better job of Reforming his dear corrupt friends in Congress while he had the chance instead he spent all his time poking Conservatives in the eye with McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy, McCain-Leiberman and my how he champions Madam Pelosi and John Kerry.

Sen. Reach Across the Aisle's failure in 2005 to get his dear frineds in Congress to come up with a vitally important bi-partisan plan to address his very own Congressional friend's government-created mortage mess is his greatest failure as Senator.

I have no idea how Sen McCain the President will reform his dear friends in Congress when he failed to reform as Senator.

What is he going to do, have the Department of Justice investigate his dear friends in Congress? Like that will happen.

The only real Reformer is Gov Palin; in 1 1/2 years she was able to reform what McCain could not in two decades.

To top it off, McCain is under the impression Cuomo would be an idea person to oversee Freddie and Fannie.

Sen McCain-When you play with poisionous snakes it is very likely you will die by its venom.

syn   ·  September 24, 2008 09:59 AM
Debbie   ·  September 24, 2008 10:14 AM

Not unlike Glenn in your next post, when reading major media stories, if it helps Obama or hurts McCain, it probably isn't true. This does not necessarily work the other way.

tim maguire   ·  September 24, 2008 10:22 AM

Wow.

Another front-page New York Times story bashing McCain that turns out not to be true.

Who could have seen that one coming.

Bleh.

Clint   ·  September 24, 2008 10:55 AM

Over at my blog (http://www.di2.nu/200809/24.htm ) I've just pointed out that even by the NYT's own reporting (and even more so given the McCain response), this is a pretty good example of Freddie Mac wasting a few hundred thousand dollars on lobbying.

FrancisT   ·  September 24, 2008 01:13 PM

Over at my blog (http://www.di2.nu/200809/24.htm ) I've just pointed out that even by the NYT's own reporting (and even more so given the McCain response), this is a pretty good example of Freddie Mac wasting a few hundred thousand dollars on lobbying.

FrancisT   ·  September 24, 2008 01:47 PM

I don't know if the story is true and don't really care, either, since I'd vote for a dead guy before I voted for Obama. But one thing I DO know is that Michael Tomasky is a delusional partisan hack of long-standing who couldn't write an objective and honest word if his life depended on it. So I'd take anything from him with huge salt grains.

peterike   ·  September 24, 2008 02:31 PM


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