Well, Obama isn't going to be alone on the firing line
I'm a little late to this story in the NY Times, but it isn't too much of a surprise. The salacious rumour-mongering about a possible affair is stupid and irrelevant, and, as a result, will likely become everyone's focus. US politics just seems to work that way.
The real meat of the story, though, is the connections McCain has to lobbyists and his actions on their behalf, however slight he may try to make them. It does remind me of something I heard about during the last presidential election.
The US hasn't elected anyone from the legislative branch to the presidency for quite some time. Part of the reason for that is because of the way Congress works, with all of the earmarks and lobbyists and so forth, there is, usually, a long and detailed history for opponents to dissect and use as ammunition for attacks. Any vote can be twisted to seem to be voting against or for some hot button issue, even if the issue in question was a tiny rider on a huge and unpopular omnibus bill. It is a large part of what helped to paint Kerry as a flip-flopper.
This time round, both party's will be running Senators, and in this, Obama's inexperience is a bonus, as is Hillary's when compared to the long service of McCain. Lots of years, means lots of bills, means lots of votes, means lots of potential ammunition for his opponents.
Of course, the Democrats still need to prove they know how to use such an abundance of material, but McCain could be in for a much tougher ride than some might expect come the general.
