"Gutter politics"

Interesting.

"It is a shame that the New York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit and run smear campaign. John McCain has a 24-year record of serving our country with honor and integrity. He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the issues at stake in this election.

"Americans are sick and tired of this kind of gutter politics, and there is nothing in this story to suggest that John McCain has ever violated the principles that have guided his career."

You'd think they'd deny the specific (hedged) allegation that he had an affair with a lobbyist. And the statement is a lie, anyway. Of course, he's done favors for lobbyists and special interests. That's why he's forever linked to the Keating Five in the first place. It's also funny that her bio's been pulled from her employer's website.

The funny thing is, though, that what struck me was how easy the reporting on the story was on McCain (Josh Marshall has some suspicions about that). I mean, play the parlor game so many of us have been having fun with during the campaign, and replace "Clinton" for "McCain" in the story. Can you imagine if Hillary Clinton (let alone her husband) had been perceived as having "inappropriate" ties with a lobbyist of the opposite sex. Would the story include a response from a friend of hers (or Bill's) writing it off as mere "imprudence?"

Mr. McCain promised, for example, never to fly directly from Washington to Phoenix, his hometown, to avoid the impression of self-interest because he sponsored a law that opened the route nearly a decade ago. But like other lawmakers, he often flew on the corporate jets of business executives seeking his support, including the media moguls Rupert Murdoch, Michael R. Bloomberg and Lowell W. Paxson, Ms. Iseman’s client. (Last year he voted to end the practice.)

Mr. McCain helped found a nonprofit group to promote his personal battle for tighter campaign finance rules. But he later resigned as its chairman after news reports disclosed that the group was tapping the same kinds of unlimited corporate contributions he opposed, including those from companies seeking his favor. He has criticized the cozy ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, but is relying on corporate lobbyists to donate their time running his presidential race and recently hired a lobbyist to run his Senate office.

“He is essentially an honorable person,” said William P. Cheshire, a friend of Mr. McCain who as editorial page editor of The Arizona Republic defended him during the Keating Five scandal. “But he can be imprudent.”

Mr. Cheshire added, “That imprudence or recklessness may be part of why he was not more astute about the risks he was running with this shady operator,” Charles Keating, whose ties to Mr. McCain and four other lawmakers tainted their reputations in the savings and loan debacle.

It's not typical legislative back rubbing. It's maverickness.