Just Yesterday, McCain Said He’d ‘Be Glad’ To Have Rick Davis’s Record ‘Examined By Anybody’
Just Yesterday, McCain Said He’d ‘Be Glad’ To Have Rick Davis’s Record ‘Examined By Anybody’
Today, the New York Times published an article in which it examined the lobbying record of Rick Davis, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign manager. Based on interviews with current and former officials at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and public records, the Times found that over a period of five years, Davis made nearly $2 million lobbying for the two mortgage giants:
Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.
The McCain campaign’s response to the article was surprisingly vicious. On a conference call with reporters, McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt called the New York Times a “pro-Obama organization” and said, “it is not today — by any standard — a journalistic organization.” Davis claimed, “I never lobbied a single day.” Listen to a TPM Election Center recording here:
But just yesterday, in an interview with McCain, CNBC’s John Harwood said he’d be “glad to have [Davis's] record examined.” In a portion of the interview that does not appear to have been broadcast by CNBC, Harwood asked McCain about his campaign manager’s former lobbying activities:
HARWOOD: You mentioned cronyism and corruption on Wall Street and in Washington. … How do you square that with the fact that your campaign manager, Rick Davis, was involved in some lobbying activities on behalf of Fannie Mae? [...]
MCCAIN: My campaign manager has stopped that, has had nothing to do with it since, and I’ll be glad to have his record examined by anybody who wants to look at it.
Examined by anybody…except journalists at the New York Times.
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32 Responses to “Just Yesterday, McCain Said He’d ‘Be Glad’ To Have Rick Davis’s Record ‘Examined By Anybody’”
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Oh yes, please feel free to examine all you want. But when you find something you better STFU. you can look at his record all you want - you're just not allowed to be critical of it.
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:09 pmI'm sorry....didn't NYT endorse McStain??? Man, talk about biting the hand....
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:11 pmOn MSNBC, Bounds refused to commit to David Shuster that Phil Gramm will not be John McCain’s Treasury Secretary.
Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse.
No one in their right mind should even THINK of voting for McCain.
McCain's staff records are like his medical records. The press got three hours to look at 1100 pages -- that's it, no second visits. This is the guy who selected Palin, an extreme fundamentalist, to be next in command.
If this were not so very, very serious, it would be laughable.
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:14 pmJohn McCain does not speak for the McCain campaign.
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:15 pmIf not for LIVs the polls would be 80/20 but they are the bane of the existence of a democracy McCain and his minions have their filthy paws all over this mess and waving their arms and shouting Obama did it shouldn't help but in reality it will
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:17 pmMcCain and his surrogates have adopted the age old tactic of the GOP....LIE YOUR ASS OFF AND HOPE ENOUGH OF THE CITIZENS ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO BELIEVE YOU.
I get so pissed I have to turn the sound down on the television. If there are people that stupid, they deserve what they are asking for.
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:22 pmKeep it up NYT. When repubs react like that you know they're desperately trying to hide something. This is just like accusing folks of being sexist for saying that palin is dumber than a box of bibles...
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:23 pmDid you notice that McCain didn't tell Harwood that Davis was not a lobbyist for Fannie/Freddie. He merely said that he had stopped doing it. Also Schmidt didn't deny anything either. He just lit into the NYTimes.
So they both are, in effect, conceding that McCain has a compromised figure in Davis running his campaign.
The choice is clear: John McCain NOPE
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:23 pmHey, come on, be fair to John!
Yesterday he said he welcomed an examination of Rick Davis.
Today, he's changed his mind, or simply doesn't remember having said it!
I think they need a proctologist for an examination of Davis, as that is where his head is.
PEACE
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:23 pmThe first words out of the campaign's mouthpieces are always "Look into it as much as you want." From Davis, to Palin, to Fiorina, to whatever, look until we don't like what you have to say. McCain and his surrogates sound more like whiners than anyone Phil Gramm was referring to a few weeks ago.
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:24 pmjust heard on randi (paraphrasing):
remember how you felt when you found out sarah palin was
CHARGING FOR RAPE KITS ???
well that's what's happening now, and
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:26 pmTHEY'RE CHARGING YOU FOR YOUR OWN RAPE KIT !!!
Add Kenneth Duberstein to the list. He helped McCain explore his 2000 run, at least Newsweek ran a story on it.
Ken's firm got over $1.8 million in consulting fees over a five year period, in part to advise Fannie Mae on regulatory matters.
Duberstein served on the board that approved both severance packages for Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines.
McCon might be sorry he started calling names. I'm happy Toto is pulling back the curtain to find the button pushers for all these political wizards. Keep naming 'em, John, but you have to include your side....
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:29 pm"1st Amendment Absolutists"? I don't think those words mean what they want them to mean. Apparently the Jebus/Chippy/Flippy campaign is under the impression that the 1st Amendment protects liable, slander, and every other possible permutation of lying.
And Marie? You have to let yourself laugh at some of this crap to keep sane. Between the constant efforts to cover Flippy's latest incoherent gaffe, to the hiding of Chippy from coherent questions, it is laughable despite the peril.
Plus, there are many indications that Chippy and Flippy drive more sane people away every time they open their mouths. So, I strongly recommend a hearty laugh, even if it's a bit grim, and look forward to the day we can say, "at least we aren't so far gone that we let those two clowns gain the White House"!
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:35 pm"It's NOT a bail out, it's a STICKUP" - Naomi Klein (on randi)
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:36 pmI've got a better question for McLiar: how does he reconcile his statement that Schmidt "has stopped that, has had nothing to do with it since" with Schmidt's statement that he "never lobbied a single day"? Which one of them is lying -- McLiar, or his lying liar of a campain mismanager?
My bet is on both...
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:36 pmDogfather, not Schmidt, but the other guy.
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:44 pmWhen's the revolution?
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:46 pmThese guys go through more burning pants every day than if they simply lit matches to their gaseous excretions.
Except their gaseous excretions come from their mouths and they are NOT burps.
Burn Baby Burn
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:48 pm*
"what cheeney did for halliburtin, is what paulsen is doing
[(will do?) (i forget)] for goldman sachs"...
[whoa.]
call obama... not just your congress people... call obama.
he needs to know that the people will not be had.
- paraphrased from naomi klein on randi, just now
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:50 pmLobbyists: get on board the McCain Corporate Express to Nowhere... It looks like the greedy speculators in the real estate mortgage re-selling market are moving back into the electronic oil futures markets - all conveniently left totally unregulated by the Bush crime family. Heck of a deregulation there, Grammy and McCainy.
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:51 pmIts trulty pathetic to see how McWorse keeps on digging his hole deeper, and deeper, and deeper still. Between his reality-challenged existance and Ms. Pain's Fantasy Based Reality, their staffs must have their hands full trying to keep their mutual insanities from annihilating each other. And, to quote Homer, It Just Gets Worse and Worse! DOH!
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:54 pmImpeach Pelosi, Cheney and Bush and Save the Constitution!
Impeach Palin and Restore the Rule of Law!
My bets on McCains response:
"I never said that"
or
"Uhm uh.. uh the uh.. they they are not lobbyists. Look Americans dont care about that. Americans care about my vision and the fact Obama is a liberal... blablablabla"
or
"Look it doesnt matter. What matters is the fact that once in my life I would have been damn lucky just to see an American lobbyist. Back then I was living in a place called the Hanoi Hilton... blablabla"
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 pmThis election is not about issues -Rick Davis
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 pmcCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt called the New York Times a “pro-Obama organization” and said, “it is not today — by any standard — a journalistic organization.” Davis claimed
Hey, did he just call the place Bill Kristol works a non-journalistic organization by any standard.
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:09 pmFrom the NY Times article:
At the time that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recruited Mr. Davis to run the Homeownership Alliance in 2000, they were under new pressure from private industry rivals and DEREGULATION-MINDED REPUBLICANS who argued that the two companies’ federal sponsorship gave them an unfair advantage and put taxpayers at risk. Critics of the companies had formed their own Washington-based advocacy group, FM Watch. They ( the critics) were pushing for REGULATIONS that would DETER the companies from expanding into new areas, including RISKIER and MORE PROFITABLE mortgages.
Those Riskier and More Profitable Mortgages are the ones that the Taxpayers are being asked to bail out....as well as the Credit Default Swaps designed to insure this Risky Business.
To bad there were no Regulators on the job to point out what a BAD MOVE this Might Be.
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:16 pmLet's look into it then.
A quick search on wiki will tell you that Davis has been an outspoken lobbyist, and not just for McCain.
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:20 pmDavis claimed, “I never lobbied a single day. I lobbied every day for five years!”
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:40 pmEssentially a Rovian tactic, even if anyone looks at his record, they'll lie and lie for the base. What a bumch of ignorant gullible warmongers and christian fundies.
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:42 pmMarie Says:
McCain’s staff records are like his medical records. The press got three hours to look at 1100 pages — that’s it, no second visits. This is the guy who selected Palin, an extreme fundamentalist, to be next in command.
If this were not so very, very serious, it would be laughable
McCain doesn't seem to have the mental faculties needed to be even a mediocre President.
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:51 pmHis thinking seems to be serambled.
It's like he's making himself dizzy trying to keep up with his lies and b.s.
He speaks from two faces and with forked tongue. Get that whiff of mendacity permeating the McCain campaign?
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:57 pm.
When Steve Schmidt is criticizing the NYTimes...
... He's not slighting FOXPRAVDA in the least, is he?
I mean, IOKIYFOXPRAVDA?
.
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:00 am.
They aren't called Whaaaaapublicans for nothing...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HabIoeqzL40
.
September 23rd, 2008 at 2:54 am