CALLING OUT THE B.S. EXPRESS

It looks like St. McWar's free ride in the MSM is about to end. First, Newsweek does an interview with Paul Waldman, a senior fellow at MediaMatters, on McWar and the Press:

Along with founder David Brock, Waldman has spent the last three years studying the relationship between the press and politicians. Waldman and Brock were so struck by McCain's cozy relationship with the press corps that they decided to write a book about it. "Free Ride: John McCain and the Media" (due out next month) holds that McCain has managed to ingratiate himself with the national media to an extent almost unheard of in modern politics. As a result, says Waldman, McCain has been able to create a glossy image untarnished by what he sees as some damning facts.

Newsweek then goes a step further and blows a huge hole in McCain's sweeping denial of the NY Times story:

Just hours after the Times's story was posted, the McCain campaign issued a point-by-point response that depicted the letters as routine correspondence handled by his staff—and insisted that McCain had never even spoken with anybody from Paxson or Alcalde & Fay about the matter. "No representative of Paxson or Alcalde & Fay personally asked Senator McCain to send a letter to the FCC," the campaign said in a statement e-mailed to reporters.

But that flat claim seems to be contradicted by an impeccable source: McCain himself. "I was contacted by Mr. [Lowell] Paxson on this issue," McCain said in the Sept. 25, 2002, deposition obtained by NEWSWEEK. "He wanted their approval very bad for purposes of his business. I believe that Mr. Paxson had a legitimate complaint."

While Clinton is spinning her wheels attacking Obama, Obama is taking the fight straight to the main enemy, St. McWar:

Obama: McCain Puts Lobbyists 'In Charge'
Feb 24, 2:17 AM (ET)
By DAVID ESPO

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Sen. Barack Obama said Saturday that the Republican presidential nominee in waiting, Sen. John McCain, has lobbyists as top aides and "many of them have been running their business on the campaign bus while they've been helping him."

The Democratic presidential hopeful also said McCain's health care plans reflect "the agenda of the drug and insurance lobbyists, who back his campaign and use money and influence to block real health care reform."

Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for McCain, said the Arizona senator "has been an agent for change for his entire career - he is the greatest change agent in our party - and we plan to highlight that record in this election."

"Greatest agent for change" is FUNNY. It's like an admission that the GOP is approaching fossil status.