John McCain in Bed with Lobbyist - Literally?

Early in Senator John McCain's first run for the White House eight years ago, waves of anxiety swept through his small circle of advisers.

A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client's corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself - instructing staff members to block the woman's access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.

That's right, John McCain appears to have been in bed with a lobbyist (pictured at left with President Bush), both metaphorically and literally.  Yes, the same John McCain who has promised to break the iron triangle of "lobbyists, big money and legislation" that dominates Washington, DC.  Yet here's McCain, cavorting around with a top Washington lobbyist.

Who is this lobbyist, by the way?  The Huffington Post has more:

From her page on the firm's website -- which was pulled from the web shortly after the New York Times story broke -- there is this: "[Iseman] has consulted for clients who are interested in government contracting opportunities. She has assisted corporations through the authorization and appropriation process. An active fundraiser, she has organized and participated in many political fundraising events."

Here is a list of all the clients Iseman lobbied on behalf of between 1998 and 2006. Many of them, as the Times noted, were "companies for whom Mr. McCain's commerce committee was pivotal."

Hmmmm...doesn't sound too good. You think Republicans might having a bit of "buyer's remorse" at this point? Maybe Mitt Romney's looking better by the minute? Oh well, it's too late now, they're pretty much stuck with Mr. "Straight Talk" as their nominee. We'll see how that one works out.

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