McCain Controversy Grows Legs: Huckabee Seeing Daylight, Works for Deadlocked Convention

Filed in National by on February 22, 2008

Mocking the prayers of the right-wing’s insiders, shills, and party hacks the John McCain influence peddling story is not going away. To the contrary, it picked up a lot of steam today as McCain’s defense (that he never spoke to Vicki Iseman’s clients) was exposed as an outright lie.

Newsweek is reporting that McCain testified in a deposition five years ago that he personally spoke with the CEO of Paxson Communications regarding Paxson’s business before the FCC. This flatly contradicts McCain’s denial yesterday that he’d had any contact with Paxson or his representatives regarding the matter. Here’s the Newsweek link: http://www.newsweek.com /…

McCain flatly denied yesterday that he’d been asked to write a letter to the FCC either by Paxson or his representatives. McCain’s campaign continues today to insist that McCain never spoke personally with Paxson or his lobbyists regarding this matter. But here’s McCain’s own testimony in a deposition in 2002:

Q: “Do you know were they got the information?”

McCain: “No. But I would add, I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue.”

Q: “You were?”

McCain: “Yes.”

Q: “Can you tell us what you said and what he said about it?”

McCain: “That he had applied to purchase this station and that he wanted to purchase it. And that there had been a numerous year delay with the FCC reaching a decision. And he wanted their approval very bad for purposes of his business.I said I would be glad to write a letter asking them to act. But I will not write a letter, I cannot write a letter asking them to approve or deny, because then that would be an interference in their activities. I think everybody is entitled to a decision. But I can’t ask for a favorable disposition for you.”

McCain recalled not only speaking with Paxton, but the actual dialog of the conversation.

As if that news is not bad enough – today the world also learned that Huckabee is far from out of the race for the nomination. Huckabee is now working to take the nomination on the convention floor from a seriously wounded McCain.

Mike Huckabee’s strategy: Deadlocked convention
In an interview with a San Antonio radio station this morning, Mike Huckabee essentially confirmed the suspicions of many analysts. He’s hanging on in the Republican presidential nomination fight hoping to keep John McCain from winning enough delegates to get the nomination on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention in September.

Huckabee’s thinking: With no clear nominee, the conservative wing will move to him, and he might be able to snatch the nomination in a floor fight, he told station WOAI-AM (1200). But it will take an upset win in Texas on March 4 to do that, he said.

But how close is Huckabee? Is an upset possible? You be the judge: Polster link

Bottom Line: McCain is by no means a lock for his party’s nomination.

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Jason330 is a deep cover double agent working for the GOP. Don't tell anybody.

Comments (15)

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  1. Sagacious Steve says:

    More proof that McCain lied. Check out this story from the Washington Post:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/22/AR2008022202634.html?hpid=topnews

    My favorite snip from the article:

    “McCain attorney Robert Bennett played down the contradiction between the campaign’s written answer and Paxson’s recollection.

    “We understood that he [McCain] did not speak directly with him [Paxson]. Now it appears he did speak to him. What is the difference?” Bennett said. “McCain has never denied that Paxson asked for assistance from his office. It doesn’t seem relevant whether the request got to him through Paxson or the staff. His letters to the FCC concerning the matter urged the commission to make up its mind. He did not ask the FCC to approve or deny the application. It’s not that big a deal.”

    In the article, ‘Bud’ Paxson says that he met with McCain several times on the issue. And Miss Vicki was with him.

    I’m starting to think that McCain is a pathological liar, which indeed would make him the logical successor to Dubya.

  2. jason330 says:

    We understood that he [McCain] did not speak directly with him [Paxson]. Now it appears he did speak to him. What is the difference?

    Can you hear yourself Bob?

    I’m starting to think that McCain is a pathological liar,

    Yep. Explains why the party shills like him so much.

  3. jason330 says:

    Oh and I liked how McCain quoted Bennett in its first press release as thought he was some kind of nuetral outsider.

  4. Puzzler says:

    McCain is a very driven guy, and he felt screwed out of the nomination in 2000.

    No excuses for him, expecially for the apparent cover-up. But I wonder how many US Senators have NOT engaged in similar things. If the system seems to rot people, we won’t get far by just pointing out how rotten the other party’s people are. We’ll have to fix the system.

    Real campaign finance reform would be a good start. But the system appears to be too damn rotten and our society seems too stupid and lazy to care.

    We’ll see how this plays out. Personally though, I think if Mike Huckabee is the Repubican presidential candidate this November, Richard Prior could beat him (and he’s dead).

    The question is, will the dems do better.

  5. jason330 says:

    No skeletons on Richard Pryor’s closet.

  6. Dana Garrett says:

    “McCain recalled not only speaking with Paxton, but the actual dialog of the conversation.”

    Maybe McCain had a senior moment the other day.

  7. Rebecca says:

    Being charitable Dana, McCain probably did have a senior moment. But I don’t want more senior moments in the White House, we had enough of those with Ronnie.

  8. Sagacious Steve says:

    The lobbyist/corruption does have legs–or will if the MSM does half as good a job as the series of tubes called the internets is doing.

    If you doubt me, ask yourself why mortal enemy Grover Norquist is now supporting Mr. Straight Talk. And ask yourself why Greenburg Traurig, Jack Abramoff’s lobbying firm, has given McCain $100K since the scandal.

    The answer, my friends (couldn’t resist), is McCain’s slow-walking of the Abramoff investigation. Here’s some meat for those bones:

    http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/23/03912/3990/390/462347

  9. anon says:

    Interesting factoid: The entire Keating Five has endorsed Obama except for Cranston (R.I.P) and McCain.

  10. Rebecca says:

    There’s a story developing on the blogs that ties McCain’s efforts to Sinclair Broadcasting, and we all remember that Sinclair was the major conduit for the Swiftboat attack on Kerry. Oh what tangled webs these Republicans weave.

    Essentially Sinclair has been a platform for Republican propaganda for the past eight years and McCain made it all possible.

  11. Sagacious Steve says:

    Rebecca: It ain’t the blogs, it’s the NYTimes. And at the center of it is…Miss Vicki:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/23/us/politics/23lobby.html

    BTW, I wonder why we haven’t heard from Vicki Iseman yet. No denial, no parsing of syllables, no nothing.

  12. There is a call to “Free Vicki” assuming that she is in captivity somewhere.

    The news of a tie-in to swift-boaters isn’t much of a surprise. There is one of the main perps here in Delaware who runs a bank and I have to stare at his smarmy face in his adverts everytime I pick the Business Ledger or Delaware Today.

  13. Sagacious Steve says:

    Here’s about as good a summary of McCain’s hypocrisy as I can find. And, it’s a cartoon:

    http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/viewbydate.asp?id=1715

  14. Art Downs says:

    The NYT has hads its moments of infamy. The lowest point was the pubication of the second-hand lies from the Kremlin forwarded by Walter Duranty. That was worth a Pulitzer.

    Then came the lies written by AA pet Jayson Blair and long ignored by the people sho should have been at the other end of his leash.

    The NYT has already begun backpedalling after inspiring some GOP unity.

    Remember that the NYT is a corporation that is run by a family that holds the few shares of voting stock. The average shareholder has no voice.

    The WaPo has a similar arrangement for a few insiders.

    So much for self-proclaimed ‘nespapers of record’.

  15. Al Mascitti says:

    Brilliant addition to the discussion, Art. Now say, “Baaa!”