It Depends on the Meaning of "Essentially"

This is certainly taking the phrase he's in bed with lobbyists to a whole new level. In a piece on the ethical issues of Mr. Ethics, the NYTimes reports that John McCain was having an affair during his last campaign run, For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk:

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.

When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist’s client, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.

The best line in the piece is:

“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.” (Emphasis added)

I guess it depends on the meaning of "essentially." Of course McCain denies that there was any relationship. McCain's Ties To Lobbyist Worried Aides. And we should believe him why? Because he would never do that?

It seems that McCain, who had once revealed to fellow prisoners of war in Vietnam that he wanted to be president, was restless in 1979. As Navy liaison to the Senate, he didn't have the career momentum he had counted on to propel him into an admiralty and on to the White House. He was 42, mired in stifling ordinariness. (Civilians call it "midlife crisis.")

But McCain was making bold career moves on the home front, hotly pursuing a 25-year-old blond from a wealthy Arizona family -- while married. Carol, his wife at the time, had once been quite a babe herself apparently, until a near-fatal car accident (while her husband was in Vietnam) left her 4 inches shorter, overweight and on crutches. The couple had three children, whom Carol cared for alone while her husband was in Vietnamese prisons.

McCain's strategy worked perfectly: After chasing Cindy Hensley around the country for six months, he closed the deal late in the year, had a divorce by February and was married to Hensley shortly thereafter. Bingo! McCain was a candidate for Congress by early 1982, his coffers full, his home in the proper Arizona district purchased.

See Different hero, different war.

Oh, but I'm sure that was different. His wife was disabled after a terrible accident, while his new wife was (much) younger, prettier and rich. Vicki Iseman, the lobbyist, is only younger than the current model. Otherwise, they could be separated at birth.



I guess Cindy McCain's no longer too worried or focused on whether Michelle Obama "is really proud of the county" for the first time as an adult. See Like Manna From Heaven. Looks like she may have other things to worry about.