McCain Advisor: Story Won't Hurt Campaign

(CBS)  A senior advisor to the campaign of John McCain challenged recent reports by The New York Times and other media about the Senator's ties to lobbyists which suggested that he had pushed for actions at the FCC favoring his associates.

"John McCain does no favors for, nor gives no special treatment to, any lobbyist, even if they are a friend of his," Charles Black told CBS Face The Nation host Bob Schieffer.

Black said the reports would not affect the candidacy of McCain.

Also on the show was a discussion featuring two governors: Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich., and Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz., who talked about the latest campaign developments, including the announcement this morning that consumer advocate Ralph Nader will join the race for the White House as a third-party candidate, much as he had in the last two presidential contests.

Napolitano said the Nader announcement was a "non-event," and said the increase in voters in primaries and caucuses demonstrated that the electorate is excited - and not pining for an alternative. "They're not looking for a third party candidate, like a rehash of Ralph Nader. They're invested in this race."

Granholm said she felt the issue of delegates from her state of Michigan and from Florida, which were not being counted owing to the earlier dates those states set for their primaries, would be resolved before the convention.

"I think there's a great desire to see Michigan and Florida [seated]. Nobody wants to alienate the voters of Michigan and Florida. It will be settled before then."

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Read the full "Face the Nation" transcript here.

[pleasedpig]

The transcript link is broken. A fix would be appreciated.

[tomriendeau]

Schieffer asked Black several softball questions about the NYT Lobbying Story on McCain. He missed the only critical question: How does McCain justify having a major Washington lobbyist like Charlie Black leading his allegedly anti-lobbyist campaign? Who cares what McCain did or did not do in private with Vicki Iseman. What we care about is the lobbying - and the NYT was right to raise the issue. It was a missed opportunity for "Face the Nation."