Regarding the Times story that broke today about McCain: this about as huge of a blow to McCain's chances at this stage in the game as one could imagine. Imagine this scenario: these allegations turn out to be false, Iseman and McCain clear up the currently muddied waters, and the Times somehow offers an apology for this story.
That would never happen - the story seems solid, and it follows the Rovian formula of attacking your opponent on his or her strongest issue. For McCain, it's his persona as a straight-shooting, honorable kind of guy. This is somewhat ironic, considering McCain's sharp attacks on Obama's oratory over the past two weeks.
But imagine this story is retracted. The damage is still done. What has happened? People unaware of McCain's checkered past with lobbyists and insider deals is now brought back up to the surface for political newcomers to see. Obama's talking points about removing or curbing the influence of lobbyists acquires a greater resonance. McCain loses momentum and is put on the defensive: is this the type of experience that he expects from Obama? These are things that can't be undone even in the wake of a retraction.
No, this is not very good for the McCain team.
And the actions of Alcalde & Fay don't offer much support for their lobbyist - they removed her bio from the firm's webpage.
The side note on all of this is why the Times held on to the story for so long - the Huffington Post is all over this issue. It seems, though, that the McCain team has been aware of the story for quite some time and has been fighting its publication. So no, it doesn't appear this was some sort of surprise for the GOP until after the primaries were all-but-finished. It does make one wonder, though - if you're the Republicans at the convention, how do you handle this?
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