Spin Cycle

Did the New York Times catalogue all the legislative actions John McCain took that could have assisted key Vicki Iseman client Paxson Communications? Maybe not.

Here's a story about some legislation in 2003-04, while Iseman was still the lobbyist, on which McCain reversed course and benefited Paxson. Which provides a clue to where this story goes:

The salacious elements of the story may pass. But McCain's chairmanship of Senate Commerce touched on huge business interests, and he's collected lots of money over the years from lots of corporate interests.

Notably, one of his chief front men in deflecting the Times story today has been "adviser" Charles Black (left) -- the chairman of BKSH & Associates, one of Washington's leading lobby shops. (And ironically, part of Burson-Marsteller, which is headed by Mark Penn, Hillary's key political strategist). BKSH has done work for everyone from Blackwater security to GM, GE, AT &T, pharmaceutical companies etc.

In other words, he uses one of the city's biggest lobbyists to defend him from a story suggesting that a lobbyist had undue influence?

So, there's a lot of room to explore on Paxson and others, and it could well be the start of coverage that does a little undercutting of McCain's image as a Washington maverick who (supposedly) doesn't do business as usual.