BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

I recently commented on McCain’s part in the Keating 5.  That raised ethics questions in my mind, especially with the link between Cindy McCain and the Keating group and their real estate investment.  The Keating scandal was obviously an ethics problem that McCain barely skirted.

His month long relationship with Cindy McCain before their marriage seemed a little fast, but anything is possible.  Of course, Senator McCain has already entered a guilty plea on the subject of infidelity, but not as it pertains to the latest bombshell, Vicki Iseman, telecom lobbyist.  Of course, that was years ago… eight years ago. 

And, frankly it does not matter to me, as a voter, who John McCain sleeps with or does not sleep with, except in this case perhaps.  If it was a little affair that resulted in McCain writing the letters in question on behalf of Ms. Iseman’s clients, well… that goes beyond the privacy of his bedroom. 

It makes for good fodder, I suppose, but thank God we are going to get it out of the way before the national election season.  I don’t believe it is important to delve into McCain’s private life to the point of making accusations of infidelity.  We don’t need to go that far.

What we need to be aware of is that Senator McCain made an error in judgment when it came to his involvement in the Keating 5, an error in judgment in having Ms. Iseman accompany him anywhere, and a continuing error in judgment on the War in Iraq.

Whether he slept with or became intimate with Ms. Iseman is irrelevant.  Having a lobbyist accompany him to fund raisers should have raised questions in the first place.  Writing letters to assist her lobby clients was an error in judgment, especially after she was prominently seen accompanying him to political events. 

What every man and woman in the public eye must know is that it isn’t what they actually do that will get them in the negative eye of the general population, it is the perception of impropriety.  Perception is far more damning than reality and much harder to cast off.

So, let’s not delve into the sordid details.  The perception is ugly enough.  What we do know about the senator is enough to make him suspect in the eyes of the voters.  He has an ethics problem that may not have carried him to the dark side, but he lives in the shadows of grey… dark grey.