Community | September 24, 2008 | 31 comments

The biggest story of the campaign

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/24/johnmccain.congress

Image
bansheewail
Mark this day down. Today – last night, actually – the New York Times and Roll Call reported (it's hard to see who was first) what may be the biggest political story of the campaign. How big? John McCain might have to fire his campaign manager. Big enough?

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.

The stories are here, by David Kirkpatrick (whose reporting on this topic has been leading the way) and Jackie Calmes of the Times, and here, by Tory Newmeyer of Roll Call. You should definitely read every word of both. I think after you do you'll agree that, depending on how big the pick-up is today and how hard the Obama camp presses this, it's pretty difficult to see how Davis can stay on as campaign manager.

The revelations are devastating for two reasons. First, as I noted above, either Davis lied to McCain or McCain lied to the voters. From the Times story:

On Sunday, in an interview with CNBC and The Times, Mr. McCain responded to a question about that tie between Mr. Davis and the two mortgage companies by saying that he "has had nothing to do with it since, and I'll be glad to have his record examined by anybody who wants to look at it."

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 second reason this is devastating is maybe even bigger than the question of the Sunday lie, which is limited in scope after all to a sort of narrow legal question. The second reason is that McCain has been going around putting lobbyists, specifically for F & F, at the heart of the whole problem. This is from the Roll Call piece:

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac emerged as issues in the presidential race last week because of turmoil in the financial markets. In a radio address from Green Bay, Wis., on Saturday, McCain blamed the companies and their political clout for creating the housing mess now roiling Wall Street. "At the center of the problem were the lobbyists, politicians and bureaucrats who succeeded in persuading Congress and the administration to ignore the festering problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,'' he said. "Using money and influence, they prevented reforms that would have curbed their power and limited their ability to damage our economy. And now, as ever, the American taxpayers are left to pay the price for Washington's failure.''

I just can't picture any way of wiggling out of that. He is talking in those sentences about his own campaign manager! And he's going to be able to keep him on? Strange things happen all the time, but I have trouble seeing it.

Oh and by the way: No wonder Steve Schmidt, another top McCain strategist, said on a Monday conference call with reporters that "Whatever The New York Times once was, it is today not by any standard a journalistic organization." He obviously knew that more was coming and was trying to lay some discrediting groundwork.

This is a terrible, terrible story for McCain, and yes, the biggest political story of the general-election campaign so far.

  1. groups:
    Community,   Politics
  2. tags:
    News,  Politics,  Obama,  Barack Obama,  7 more
  3. recommended by:
    goldenways,
    Vierotchka
  4.     
    |

31 comments // The biggest story of the campaign

  • Aydee
  • TouchArt
    • 0
      TouchArt  

    • Obama got over $127,000 from Freddie Mac in campaign contributions.

      McCain got about $21,000.

      Will Freddie Mac expect $100,000 more influence on Obama if he is elected?

      Look at Obama's campaign manager and powerful lobbyist David Axelrod's clients starting with the nuclear industry giant Excelon.

      Ask if Obama if elected would be influenced by Axelrod's long profitable relationship with Excelon?

      Oh, we already know how that turned out.

      After over $300,000 in campaign contributions to Obama from Excelon employees, pressure from the nuclear industry and Senate Republicans, Obama's only nuclear bill as a Senator just happened to be gutted and he let it die on the Senate floor.

      There are plenty of lobbyists on both sides in this campaign. Don't believe otherwise.

    • 3 years ago
  • jjmaster
  • shroomfairy
  • ciregg222
  • PoliticallyNsane
  • Justanks
    • 0
      Justanks  

    • I can't till the debates to see how he answers those questions. I say the audiance should be able the throw rotten tomatoes for every answer that is obviously bullshit.

    • 3 years ago
  • petarro
    • 0
      petarro  

    • Dear God,

      I ask you to please enlighten a reporter or investigator to find something that will get McCain to Jail. Please make it happen.

    • 3 years ago
  • JaetheFirst
    • 0
      JaetheFirst  

    • If anyone after this STILL decides to vote for McCain or better yet exacerbate Obama's so-called "connections" with Ayers and Rezco, after the shit hit the fan and fell on us to clean up, your a fucking idiot who should do us all a favor and enlist to fight the warS you seem to support so much! Obama's ties are in NO WAY comparable to the ties McCain has with people who have orchestrated the closest thing to the Great Depression in History...I'll leave it at that.

    • 3 years ago
  • SHERIFF
  • freedom08
    • 0
      freedom08  

    • We NEED this story to run on current tv!!! Every day Every night!!!
      Like someone else said before-- their closet is brimming over with skeletons and this one is like exposing a mammoth's skeleton in your backyard!
      Vote up everyone-get this on air!!

      Speaking of Keith and Rachel...Rachel ran a list of McCain advisors her show has contacted to come on air if only to voice their stance on policy and to voice the other sides views--it was all of them and they refused to come on air and set things straight.

      It all seems too familiar now--just like Palin fumbling through her 1st interview only to choose a huge right wing supporter-distorter of the truth to host her 2nd interview----

      Maybe this has more to do with McCain trying to postpone the presidental debate then we all know.

    • 3 years ago
  • mel2
    • 0
      mel2  

    • This is good because if McCain does win, he won't have this dirty Karl Rove type like all those other Republican Campaign Managers

    • 3 years ago
  • petarro
  • crob80227
    • 0
      crob80227  

    • What's disturbing is that McCain doesn't seem all that shaken up by anything that happens.

      I thought this guy was a hot-tempered, passionate Maverick?

      And yet no matter what happens he reacts as if he is totally indifferent and/or drugged up to the gills.

      I think a good reaction for McCain on this issue would to be pissed and show us!

      Lately McCain just seems to come off less like a lightning rod for change, but more like a tired old man that just doesn't give a shit anymore. About anything!

      Why is McCain so zombie-like these days?

      Is he much, much sicker than we thought?

      Are they drugging him? Is that why is seems so confused and disoriented whenever he has to speak?

      What's really going on with the "maverick"?

    • 3 years ago
  • huntre
    • 0
      huntre  

    • Apparently, the biggest story is that we can't possibly know what the next big story will be until it hits.
      Witness the breaking news #1 post.

    • 3 years ago
  • BansheesMom
  • mako2424
    • 0
      mako2424  

    • "The Audacity of Lies: Thoughts on Reclaiming America By Lying My Ass Off" by President John McCain.

      Conditional release, February 2009.

    • 3 years ago
  • queenofit
    • 0
      queenofit  
    • Image

    • And more on the FBI Investigation

      Also along these lines, I just did a very quick search typing into box *Rick Davis mad at New York Times" and this is what I found, thought it might good to share here.

      Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and insurer American International Group Inc.

      The inquiries will focus on the financial institutions and the individuals that ran them, the senior law enforcement official said.

      Questions for McCain/Davis:

      1. What did Freddie Mac expect from this purchased access to Senator McCain?

      2. What did Freddie Mac receive from this purchased access to Senator McCain?

      3. Will Senator McCain and Ric Davis cooperate with the FBI in its investigation of Freddie Mac?

      4. What other business contacts does Richard F. Syron have with John McCain and Rick Davis?

      5. Will Senator McCain and Rick Davis come clean on conflicts of interest?

      6. Will Rick Davis resign from the campaign after publicly shaming his candidate this way?

      7. Why won't John McCain fire Rick Davis from his campaign?

      8. Did Rick Davis Lobby or Consult Freddie Mac (article says Consult; Campaign denies Lobbying)?

      9. Why did the payment continue, even into last month, and what was the expectation on these payments should McCain have become President?

    • 3 years ago
  • alicynx
    • 0
      alicynx  

    • I think this will become a non-issue since both sides are utilizing the former staff of both firms as economic consultants. To throw the baby out with the bathwater here, we can say all these guys are bastards, robbing the country blind and running off with all our hard earned money. The people who run these firms are economic masters, though, and their voices carry a lot further than yours or mine do in the ears of presidential candidates. This doesn't excuse their behavior, but it lends some credence to their roles in the campaigns.
      I want this to be damaging just as much as the next Democrat, but I just don't think that enough people care. We already know that both camps have lied on a number of things; we already know McCain and Palin have been caught in lies over and over, yet people are still supporting them. Its not about a nitpick issue like who gets money from where - its their basic ideologies that are pitting neighbor against neighbor, and who knows if we'll ever be able to reconcile those issues by November.

    • 3 years ago
  • HolyCity2012
  • queenofit
    • 0
      queenofit  

    • On Sunday, in an interview with CNBC and the New York Times, Mr. McCain responded to a question about Mr. Davis’s role in the advocacy group by saying that his campaign manager “has had nothing to do with it since, and I’ll be glad to have his record examined by anybody who wants to look at it.”

      um-k....

    • 3 years ago
  • geneonlbk
    • 0
      geneonlbk  

    • McCain, who is probably suffering from dementia, has learned to compensate for his disability by spurting out stock phrases in response to questions he doesn't understand. It's when he doesn't seem to even comprehend the concept of the question that things become a little embarrassing for everyone.

      McCain should have said "I have no idea whether he is or isn't. But I will get you the correct answer by tomarrow".

      I am worried that Friday night might be sadly embarrassing for the entire country. No one likes to see a self proclaimed hero going down.

      Don't worry when you lose your car keys
      Worry when you find them, but you don't know what they are used for.

    • 3 years ago
  • MeganMcKenzie
  • cleansouth
    • 0
      cleansouth  

    • I think it is funny how the Republican smear machine tried to get out in front of this story by spreading the "information" about how much money Barack Obama took from Fannie and Freddie. Peanuts compared to Davis. I think it's a Rovian tactic." Blame the other guy of what you are guilty of, so when it comes out you'll have thoroughly confused the public."

    • 3 years ago
  • ii386
  • MeganMcKenzie
    • 0
      MeganMcKenzie  

    • Thank god for Rachel and Keith. As to liar McCain. Of course he knew all of this. I cannot believe that I can still be shocked by duplicity yet I am.

      ONE MORE REASON to vote OBAMA.

    • 3 years ago
  • HolyCity2012
  • HolyCity2012
  • huntre
    • 0
      huntre  

    • Well? Keith and Rachel didn't hesitate to report it.
      Of course, no one from McCain's campaign will come on either show to explain anything.
      Hmmm. Wonder why?
      I'm willing to bet that this won't be the biggest story.

    • 3 years ago
  • pissedoffinarkansas
  • bansheewail
more from Community:
from the community

top videos