The MSN and the Internet in the form of thousands of emails on the Barack Obama listservs were abuz with the news about John McCain's association with a beautiful lobbyist Vicki Iseman. The association between the two is eight years old and while Senator McCain says there was no sexual relationship, in my view there was a "power association" -- a marriage of a Senator flattered by the attention of a smart, lovely young woman who knew the ropes in Washington, and her desire to be in the company of a senior elected official who could open doors for her.
Vicki Iseman is no slouch. A look at the bio on her website will tell you that:
VICKI ISEMAN
Vicki Iseman, Partner, represents corporate and public clients on issues as diverse as government contracting and regulatory reform. Her experience includes representation of clients before Congress, Federal government agencies and local opinion leaders.
She has extensive experience in telecommunications, representing corporations before the House and Senate Commerce Committees. Her work on the landmark 1992 and 1996 communications bills helped secure cable access for broadcast television stations. Her experience in the communications field includes digital television conversion, satellite regulations and telecommunications ownership provisions.
She has been active in grassroots communications campaigns for clients, building community based support for legislative initiatives. Among others, she participated in the "Keep America Moving" campaign that educated community leaders on the allocation of Federal highway trust funds.
In addition, she has consulted for clients who are interested in government contracting opportunities. She has assisted corporations through the authorization and appropriation process. An active fundraiser, she has organized and participated in many political fundraising events.
A native of Pennsylvania, she holds a B.A. degree in Education from Indiana University in Pennsylvania.
(Note: the company took her bio off their main site, but a cached version is at the Huff Post. )
Iseman is skilled in getting earmarks for her clients. Earmarks are expenditures for projects in an area of interest to an elected official. While, it's not clear -- yet -- that she helped McCain in that area, it's documented that by 2006, she'd become a name partner in her firm and quite good at the practice.
And Vicky's client list is extensive:
American Maglev Technology
AMFM Inc
Arison Family Trust
AstraZeneca
BearingPoint Inc
CACI International
CanWest
Capstar Broadcasting Partners
Carnival Corp
City of Miami, FL
City of Palm Springs, CA
Click Radio
Computer Sciences Corp
Future Leaders of America
Hillsborough County
Hispanic Broadcasting Inc
Homer-Center School District
i2Telecom International
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Ion Media Networks
Jovan Broadcasting
Latona Assoc
Marin County, CA
National Stroke Assn
Operation Warm
Paxson Communications
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Saga Communications
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Telemundo Network Group
Total Living Network
Tulare County
Univision Communications
Walter Industries
I don't think this is a case of a classic sex scandal and to look at it that way is to miss what in my view is a much richer story: a tale of how McCain made relationships with lobbyists and very much before his relatively new efforts to curb lobbiyst activities.
But one does have to wonder if McCain's sudden war on lobbyists had something to do with his relationship with Ms. Iseman. Time will tell.
