On the front page of Friday's issue of The Washington Post, Michael D. Shear and Jeffrey Birnbaum (the latter of whom wrote one of my favorite political books, Showdown at Gucci Gulch) have this:

Anti-Lobbyist Candidate Is Advised by Lobbyists

For years, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has railed against lobbyists and the influence of "special interests" in Washington, touting on his campaign Web site his fight against "the 'revolving door' by which lawmakers and other influential officials leave their posts and become lobbyists for the special interests they have aided."

But when McCain huddled with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JP Morgan and U.S. Airways.

Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon work for firms that have lobbied for Land O Lakes, the UST Public Affairs, Dell and Fannie Mae.

[...]

Even before McCain finished his news conference, uber-lobbyist Black made the rounds of television networks to defend McCain against charges that he has been tainted by his relationship with a lobbyist. Black's current clients include General Motors, United Technologies, J.P. Morgan and AT&T.

Black said he is still being paid by his firm and does work for clients in his "spare time," recusing himself from lobbying McCain: "I not only do not lobby him [McCain], but if an issue comes up that I have a client on, I will tell him that and stay out of the discussion."

That's not all that's on the front page of The Post. Here are Matthew Mosk and Glenn Kessler:

FEC Warns McCain on Campaign Spending

The nation's top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until the general election campaign begins in the fall.

I haven't really chimed in yet on the stories today in The New York Times and The Post about John McCain's relationship (whatever its nature) with lobbyist Vicki Iseman, largely because I haven't felt like I had much substantive to add to the discussion. But after 24 hours of thinking about it, here are some thoughts, on the scandal as well as the above stories:

I've been saying it for years now, but McCain is a completely and utterly cynical politician who will do anything -- including, and especially, selling out his supposed beliefs (I've listed but a few of the many, many instances here) -- in order to further his insatiable ambition for power. Time and time again we see it. The stories that have been coming out in the last couple of days, and should continue to come out if the establishment media do their jobs, only serve to underscore this.

And it's important that these stories are coming out. I was speaking with another MyDDer earlier tonight upon seeing the front page of tomorrow's Post and he remarked that all of this has been known inside Washington for years, that McCain is as cozy with lobbyists as anyone inside the Beltway -- even though his image outside of the Beltway makes him seem like a reformer who eschews special interest politics. But it's specifically because of this major split between the reality in Washington and the perception around the country that these stories and reports are so important.

John McCain is no maverick, he's a dyed in the wool conservative who, while bashing his party from time to time, toes the line of the far right nine times out of ten (or more). And John McCain is no reformer, he's a typical career politician who wines and dines on on the lobbyist's dime -- and does their bidding up on Capitol Hill. The fact that his campaign is chock full of lobbyists is a testament to this fact, even if most Americans don't realize it.

Now I'm not under the belief that the establishment media will continue to do the type of reporting here that they need to -- exposing McCain for the cynical politician that he is. But as long as they are doing their job now, it's not a bad thing to amplify the message as much as possible so that the American people can meet the real John McCain.