Actually this place is pretty solid about waiting to judge on many things. This is one of them. Also, everyone knows McCain was involved in the Keating thing, and since then he has been as vocal as anyone in the senate about reform on the issue. No expects him to be perfect except for his detractors. Enough with the consevative victimization.

In any case, I could give a damn what McCain does in his personal life. The real issue is of course the influence peddling angle, tied to the guy who said he has NEVER done favors for lobbyists. (A silly thing to say, given the Keating affair).

Also, this would have been theoretically more damaging when there was still real ongoing competition in the Republican primaries, as well as if published in, say late October. But, if there's nothing more concrete to the story than what's already been published, then the Times deserves the criticism it's getting from the Right. We'll see.

Note that the Times had endorsed McCain earlier. What did they know and what may they have been planning about this story, while endorsing him?

Paul: Joe does in fact go out of the way to do that, so please understand that we're generally referring to the peanut gallery of commenters here.

Captain Ed covers the details that won't appear here.

Obama and the D's should steer clear, and focus on the issues.