The Man from Arizona

John McCain is my state senator, and has been for most of my life. My family moved there when I was 10, and I went to elementary, junior high, high school and college in the state. While I have only met him once, the New York Times scandal hit home for several reasons for me. First and foremost, my stomach turned when the SECOND question asked him during a presser was "did you have a sexual relationship with her." Seriously? How much more tacky can we the media get?

Whether or not the story is true, and I have no idea if it is, I was ashamed of my fellow journalists for their lack of tact. Who do they think they are interviewing, Britney Spears? Arizona has seen several scandals. Our sad but true rejection of the MLK holiday, our crazy, and I mean nutso Governor Evan Mecham and our role in the savings and loan scandal courtesy of Frank Keating Jr.

John McCain has put Arizona on the map, and has continued to serve our state in the Senate term after term, beginning as a Congressman back in 1982. Like I said, most of my life! Mecham actually had the gaul to run against McCain in 1992, and somehow 11% of my fellow residents voted for Mecham, but McCain crushed him, with 56% of the vote.

This election happened AFTER the Keating Five scandal (five senators accused of working on Charles Keating's behalf.) At the time, even the most blood thirsty journalist in Arizona didn't revisit the savings and loan scandal. Look, we go for it if we have it, if there is a story, we are after it. That didn't happen way back when in Arizona. For the most part, and I don't speak for the state obviously, people in Arizona respect John McCain.

I offer this perspective because I saw some slimy reporting today, and I only hope, whether or not the Vicki Iseman story has legs, that we keep things above the fold on this one. John McCain, like him or not, spent years as a POW, has served as our senator, is running for president a second time and stood by his wife when she outed herself about her painkiller addiction. He deserves some respect, and I hope he gets it, win or lose, right or wrong.

CC