I have affirmed my profound respect for Sen. McCain many times over the course of writing for this site. Though I do not agree with the Senator on several issues, I believe him to a man of the utmost integrity-a real-life American Hero in a time where there are far too few of the genuine article to be found in the political realm (there are about 150,000 examples serving in Iraq right now though…)
So I just had to chuckle when I read the headline on Drudge accusing Sen. McCain of exerting legal pressure on the NY Times to kill a story connecting him to illicit behavior with a Washington lobbyist. We all know the bastion of fairness the NYT embodies when it comes to covering Republican politicians-especially ones it considers threatening to their agenda.
Drudge, of course, is hardly neutral himself. Top of the page hit pieces have appeared on his site on every Republican top-tier candidate, save one.
What this story has accomplished is to convince me that there is something to the whispers that I have been hearing from multiple sources-that a McCain surge is a real possibility; and that some are afraid enough to take action now. In fact, just yesterday I spoke with someone in the upper tier of a rival campaign who confided to me that McCain might be the guy who wins it all when this is all said and done.
I can hear the skeptical comments now. But please remember, campaigns are often the first to recognize polling trends as they are privy to internal polling that we are not.
But the bottom line is this… Can John McCain be a strong-willed, bare knuckles infighter who will do whatever it takes to advance his agenda as a U.S. Senator? Sure. Is he wrong on key issues such as Immigration and CFR? Yes. Is he a dirty politician who would enter into illicit arrangements with a beltway lobbyist?
Not in this world… Or the next one…
December 20th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Drudge sucks. He is Supreme Rombot.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Haha. To put it another way, Matt Drudge makes Justin Hart look neutral
December 20th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
kavon, I agree Mccain is a great man. all our candidates are. I also agree he may be having a surge.
But if there is nothing to this story why is he trying to suppress it so hard? He has hired a heavyweight attorney and so has the lobbyist involved. The actions dont speak to your statement that he wouldnt bow to a lobbyists influence.
It may all be harmless but he is going into cover mode and that seems out of character to me
December 20th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
drudge F-ing diagnosed McCain with a skin cancer relapse. He should have been flogged for that.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
There is no proof that Drudge wants Romney to be POTUS. So a guy who’s close to Drudge works for ROmney . . . oooh!!
Drudge’s coverage of the race has been in line with “who’s hot” at the time.
That’s just common sense marketing.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Jeff,
You’re right. And Fox News doesn’t want Giuliani to win either
December 20th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
I agree with Kavon’s central premise: McCain is not crooked. Not even remotely. That story, or alleged story, has probably been concocted out of whole cloth. But, I’m still not convinced that McCain has a surge in him. If he does, that’s good news for him, and probably good news for our party. I’m a Romney guy now, but I’d be perfectly happy if McCain could take this thing home; he’s our strongest general election candidate and right on most issues. Anybody but Huck. But, I’m worried that this McCain “surge”, if it happens, will simply muddy the field and allow Huck to walk to the nomination. Better a McCain surge then a Fred surge though, even if Fred rose 5 points in every state, he still doesn’t have a plausible path to the nomination, and he’d ABSOLUTELY just muddy the waters.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
“Top of the page hit pieces have appeared on his site on every Republican top-tier candidate, save one.”
I remember the “Romney on the Mount” headline. That wasn’t a hit piece?
December 20th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Furthermore, the pictures of Romney there have not been favorable.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Cwpete,
Not to the same degree.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Why is Romney on the Mount a hit piece..?
This is what should be on the front page of Drudge: http://race42008.com/2007/12/19/great-video-of-the-romney-family-sledding/
December 20th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
i dont know what’s more amazing, 1) how thin-skinned the common mittbot is, or 2) the extent at which they justify a shameless attack as long as it help romney…
December 20th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Kavon,
Thanks for Post….
McCain is a Real American Hero, who deserves better from Drudge…..
(We need to hear from you more often)
December 20th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
TLG,
LOL!
December 20th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Romney crying too much story on Drudge just this week. As a Mormon, I have seen enough anti-Mormon stuff from the McCain’s campaign to make me think that he is not above the fray in any way when it comes to diry politics. However, he is my 2nd choice currently. I don’t know if he can make a serious charge or not Unfortunately for him, he has “retread” status for a lot of people.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
The muddier this race gets, the more likely it becomes that a smarmy guy like Huck gets the nod, and then we get destroyed in the general election, and the Evangelicals can kiss their Supreme Court picks goodbye. Hence the saying, “cut your nose off to spite your face.” I would GLADLY vote for McCain over Huck. I would probably choose anyone other than Ron Paul over Huck. And if it came down to Huck and a Democrat, I would choose the Democrat simply because a Democrat doesn’t hide who they are. Huck does. It has to make you wonder about the character of a guy that walks like a democrat, talks like a democrat, and attempts to sell the snake-oil that he is a conservative republican. What else is he going to try and convince people to believe . . . that he actually likes Mormons?? (Oh wait, he tried that already
)
December 20th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
CJ #3,
Have you entertained the possibility that the story they are going to run with is utter BS? And the fact it cuts to the core of John McCain’s “brand” (of being an honest reformer), that it is especially damaging? Why should Sen. McCain go down without a fight if he is innocent?
Also… Those of us who write and maintain sites that cover the ’08 race hear rumors all the time regarding candidates that have supposedly threatened legal action to keep stories from coming out. They could all (and probably are in fact), be BS. How many of those stories have topped Drudge?
This is not about “the story”. It is about how something that we are all not privy to has triggered the release of the long knives.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
I know it’s wikipedia – but how quickly do we forget the Keating Five?
Keating Five
McCain’s upwards political trajectory was jolted when he became enmeshed in the Keating Five scandal of the 1980s. In the context of the Savings and Loan crisis of that decade, Charles Keating, Jr.’s Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, a subsidiary of his American Continental Corporation, was insolvent due to some bad loans. In order to regain solvency, Lincoln sold investment in a real estate venture as a FDIC insured savings account. This caught the eye of federal regulators who were looking to shut it down. It is alleged that Keating contacted five senators to whom he made contributions. McCain was one of those senators and he met at least twice in 1987 with Ed Gray, chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, seeking to prevent the government’s seizure of Lincoln. Between 1982 and 1987, McCain received approximately $112,000 in political contributions from Keating and his associates.[59] In addition, McCain’s wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators. McCain, his family and baby-sitter made at least nine trips at Keating’s expense, sometimes aboard the American Continental jet. After learning Keating was in trouble over Lincoln, McCain paid for the air trips totaling $13,433.[60]
Eventually the real estate venture failed, leaving many broke. Federal regulators ultimately filed a $1.1 billion civil racketeering and fraud suit against Keating, accusing him of siphoning Lincoln’s deposits to his family and into political campaigns. The five senators came under investigation for attempting to influence the regulators. In the end, none of the senators were convicted of any crime, but McCain did receive a rebuke from the Senate Ethics Committee for exercising “poor judgment” for intervening with the federal regulators on behalf of Keating.[61] On his Keating Five experience, McCain said: “The appearance of it was wrong. It’s a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators, because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do.”[61]
December 20th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
follow the money people! do we really need to compare how much special interest money mccain has received vs the other candidates??!?!?!?
December 20th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
sampo,
Re-read the LDS Church’s history and you will see how silly that thin-skinned comment is. We are the most persecuted church in American history.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
20, remember it’s commander-in-chief, not pastor-in-chief.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
There is a new ARG that shows a TIE in NH….
I know it is ARG….
December 20th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Sampo’s been throwing bombs around here for months while McCain gets ignored out of pity. Now McCain’s got a potentially bogus attack coming his way, sampo’s freaking out, and Romney supporters are the ones with thin skins?
December 20th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
ARG says…
McCain tied for first in NH.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/nh/new_hampshire_republican_primary-193.html
Give me a h/t!
December 20th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
This story via Drudge is a lot more detailed than the one about Huckabee being an “Easy Kill for the Dems” (which only named anonymous sources)
McCain has personally pleaded with NY TIMES editor Bill Keller not to publish the high-impact report involving key telecom legislation before the Senate Commerce Committee, newsroom insiders tell the DRUDGE REPORT.
The paper’s Jim Rutenberg has been leading the investigation and is described as beyond frustrated with McCain’s aggressive and angry efforts to stop any and all publication.
. . .
Rutenberg, along with reporter David Kirkpatrick, has been developing the story for the last 6 weeks.
. . .
McCain campaign officials Rick Davis, Charlie Black and Mark Salter are also said to have met with the NEW YORK TIMES in an effort to halt publication.
This story is a real story. I doubt they’d hold it back for any other candidate. Except for Hillary, Obama now, or for whoever the Democrat is in the general election.
If it’s just a NYTimes “hit job” then what does McCain have to fear? He can make his case. Otherwise they’ll hold it back until he’s the nominee and potentially help their Dems in the process. THe vetting needs to happen now.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Dammit, Abe beat me to it!
December 20th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
“Re-read the LDS Church’s history and you will see how silly that thin-skinned comment is. We are the most persecuted church in American history.”
Who cares? What does this have to do with anything?
December 20th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
#21 – You make NO sense.
“1) how thin-skinned the common mittbot is”
A lot of us “mittbots” are LDS, and you saying we are thin-skinned doesn’t hold water.
I agree we are electing Commander-in-chief, which is why I can’t fathom why anyone would throw their vote away on Mike Huckabee.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
How accurate is ARG?? Which polls are the most accurate anyways?? I guess the best thing to do to avoid losing your mind in the ever-changing race, focus on the RCP averages.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
From American Research Group:
Iowa:
GOP: Huckabee 28, McCain 20, Romney 17, Giuliani 13
Dems: Clinton 29, Obama 25, Edwards 18
….
WTF???
December 20th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
I respect McCain. No one’s perfect.
I’ll be content to vote for McCain. Supported him in 2000 over Bush.
Hope he picks a solid VP.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
When Drudge had all the anti-Huck headlines up, he also had a photo of Guatemalans working on Romney’s lawn in the upper left corner. I’m not convinced he’s in the tank for Mitt.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
TLG:
So now you are a big believer in ARG polls?
December 20th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
good on you, Kavon.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
cwpete — I said “WTF???” and you said “So now you are a big believer in ARG polls?”
How did we get from Point A to Point B? I’m merely saying — What the hell?
December 20th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
McCain deserve respect, he is a hero and is the only democrat candidate worth of support.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
RAS did in fact have McCain at 14% in Iowa this week. 20% is remote but not impossible.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
ARG is useless, even more than Rasmussen.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Is there a watchdog group or something that keeps an eye on the owners of these research companies like ARG, etc. to find out their political leanings? I thought it was interesting to note that ARG is based in Manchester NH, and could it be that the owners are Independents who want to see McCain do well, so they prop him up in their state, and in IA as well?? I just can’t see McCain beating Romney at this point in IA. Makes no sense.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Does MnCain have money to continue to compete? I think this make a nice headline for him, but I don’t think he is a real threat. There are reasons that he hasn’t won before. This, too, will die down quickly.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
ARG=Rasmussen=Usesless
December 20th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
From what I can recall of the ARG polls, they seem to be out of the norm with the rest of the polling results that are being done. I seem to recall scratching my head a couple of times after the release of an ARG poll.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Is Today….
Jan.3rd….OR
Jan. 8th…..
NO….
December 20th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Bad formatting on my previous post.
My point was that this looks to be a major story coming out by the NY Times. It could (will?) damage McCain. The only question is “when?” Think about it folks. Wouldn’t the NYTimes love to hold a story back that could potentially damage the GOP nominee?
The NYT editor Keller doesn’t say he thinks the story has no merit . . . just that he’s a bit hesitant about the timing. If he agrees to hold it back until after McCain wins the nomination AND until after the general election is over then that would be a reasonable decision . . . but then the NYTimes would have an even bigger story than
I’m not saying that this will be a fair article or that it has any merit . . . but it’s a story that is gonna come out sometime and I think we all want our candidates vetted before the voting starts (except Huck and his crew, of course). McCain still has time to share his side of the story before the voting begins.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
I’ve been railing against ARG polls since the beginning. I’m confident you won’t find a single comment from me, praising any ARG results in the last 6 months. So, yawn.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
The H…-A-…T is Coming….
And McCain’s late surge will not turn into victories…
Not in NH, and DEFINITELY Not in Iowa
December 20th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
What am I thinking? with the H…-A-…T
That looked terrible….
You know what I meant…..
THE HUCK-A-BUST is Coming…..Jan. 3rd!!
December 20th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Abe…The Rino Bust is coming¡
December 20th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
#47 – LOL
You resorted to self-editing huh Abe?? That is funny.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Falz…..who is the “Rino”….
December 20th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Abe…John-Rino in Chief-McCain
December 20th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
I hope you are talking about the Huckster?
December 20th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
If McCain’s guiltless on this story, he should already have a full rebuttal prepared with the real facts of the matter. It wouldn’t last to the end of the week if he has a good damage control team…provided they haven’t gotten rusty in the last 6 months of people ignoring them.
However, if there’s truth to the story, voters need it now.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Somewhat off topic, but still McCain related.
McCain’s taking matching funds.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Love the ARG Iowa poll which continues to poll “Independant”. (BTW . . . Huck and McCain are cleaning up with INdependants in that poll).
I know it’s only 12% of those polled, but “INdependants” cannot vote in the caucus. THey can go there that evening and register for one of the parties, but almost none do (certainly not 12% of caucus participants). They lose there “Independant” status if they vote in the caucus and most Independant IOwans won’t do that . . . unless they REALLY love a candidate.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Did Drudge really carry the “Weeping Willard” story? I didn’t see it.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
What kind of organization does McCain have in Iowa? I think that a lot of who is going to win in IA will depend a lot on the strength of their organization there, and their ability to “get out the vote”. I know that McCain has focused a lot of his resources in NH, so does that leave him anything left to compete in IA beyond a 3rd place finish??
December 20th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Here is what my Christmas wish list is
1. Mitt Romney wins the nomination then POTUS.
2. He chooses Fred as his VP.
3. He chooses McCain as Secretary of Defense. (With Duncan Hunter as a high up in the Dept. of Defense)
4. He chooses Rudy as his Head of Homeland Security. (With Tancredo in charge of Border Patrol)
5. He recommends Huck as head of the Military Chaplains Association.
6. He chooses Ron Paul as . . well . . I guess nothing.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
I like how the Iowa ARG poll shows that 98% of those leaning to Romney are definitely voting for him. What is that? You can’t get that high of a percentage. Only 38% of those supporting Huckabee are definitely voting for him. This is a whacky and bad polling firm.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Hello, all (McCain-site publisher)
Jared (#58)- Per McCain in Iowa-
You are correct, there is nothing for him (or any of the others) to compete for in Iowa, other than a third place finish behind Huck and Mitt. Moreover, that third-place finish is going to be a very, very distant third.
But it’ll still be third. Fred is doing the opposite of what McCain has done- i.e., pull out of NH entirely and bet on Iowa.
McCain’s numbers in Iowa are terrible (steady in the 5-7% range). However, what’s happened during the Huck surge is that everyone else’s numbers (other than Ron Paul) have also eroded in Iowa.
Accordingly, the McCain campaign now thinks that coming in third is realistic. (I have a lengthy post over on my own site, on this point in general, if you’re interested). I don’t think that it’s likely, given that Fred is now playing seriously there… but he has a chance. Also, the withdrawal of Rudy from NH is almost going to assure McCain of a solid second behind Mitt – thus permitting some time and money to be diverted from NH to Iowa.
Thoughts?
December 20th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
#61 – I think a 3rd place finish is within reach in IA for McCain in light of the Des Moines Register endorsement, and his traction in NH. No doubt this is the lead out story that the MSM will run with this evening, that, according to ARG, Romney is slipping in both NH and IA. I HIGHLY doubt that is the case, expecially considering the source of these two polls, and the internals of some of the others, which suggest a solid base of support for Romney. I think though that McCain has a definite shot at 3rd in IA.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
The ARG IOwa poll also had these crosstabs.
98% of those saying they support Romney say their support is definite.
80% of those saying they support McCain say their support is definite.
67% of those saying they support Giuliani say their support is definite.
38% of those saying they support Huckabee say their support is definite.
Among men, Huckabee is at 31%, Romney 9%, and McCain 22%.
Among women, Huckabee is at 25%, Romney 26%, and McCain 18%.
That’s just weird. 98% definite support for any candidate is just wacky. If that’s true then ROmney will come out much better on caucus night than these results suggest.
And the Men/Women numbers are opposite of what all the other recent polls have been showing (I.e. ROmney’s been much stronger among Men than Women recently and Huck is opposite there).
WEIRD POLL!
When is somebody gonna post the NH and IA ARG polls to the front page?
December 20th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
#59 Ron Paul for surgeon general
December 20th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
McCain’s got a bigger potential scandal developing in Texas. Seems a sometimes Staffer of his been talking of voting fraud tactics with other political operatives. Turns out the guy has been arrested twice in the last few months, once for credit card fraud.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
#64 re: #59 – LOL, That’s right!
Good one!
December 20th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
ElectionNightHQ, Rudy’s pulled out of NH? Yesterday he opened a satellite NH office in Nashua. I see you bought into the lowering of expectations, though.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
[...] Kavon W. Nikrad blogs: "I just had to chuckle when I read the headline on Drudge accusing Sen. McCain of exerting legal pressure on the NY Times to kill a story connecting him to illicit behavior with a Washington lobbyist. We all know the bastion of fairness the NYT embodies when it comes to covering Republican politicians-especially ones it considers threatening to their agenda." [...]
December 20th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Hillary’s Christmas Ad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2zS6l34xB0
December 20th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
#69 – I thought at first it was a joke. Kinda scary that it’s real.
December 20th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
The MSM sees that McCain is the only GOP candidate who steps into the ring against Hillary actually leading the witch, and so it is naturally turning its guns on him. Even a rational, relatively secular, independent-friendly GOPer like McCain is unacceptable to the Editorial Board of the New York Times.
I second Kavon’s instinct that McCain just may win this thing outright. As Gamecock would say, more later…
December 20th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Power rankings…Kavon, isn’t it time for some intellectual honesty? I really don’t know should be #1, but it sure isn’t Rudy. If anything there should be a tie between Huck, Mitt, and McCain.
December 20th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Matt Drudge — what’s going on with this guy? It’s like he’s on a power spin crusade ever since giving up his radio show a few months back. He needs his radio show back to push his agenda there, not on his page. Looking like a hack spin site now, not a bulletin board of the latest real news.
December 20th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
His site isn’t what it used to be, something not right there.
December 20th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
[...] and consistent Romney-shill Matt Drudge provides us a clue. We just wonder when the super-geniuses at National Review Online—a subsidiary of Bain [...]
December 23rd, 2007 at 3:01 am
[...] Matt Drudge provides has already joined the fray. As we wrote elsewhere: We just wonder when the super-geniuses at National Review Online—a [...]