For an explanation of the old Vicki Iseman allegations, the New York Times piece, and its aftermath, read “Steve Schmidt Goes to War With the McCain Family” in New York Magazine.
Background: in 2008, the New York Times published an article alleging that John McCain’s personal ties to lobbyist Vicki Iseman were problematic. Cindy McCain stood by her husband as he vehemently denied allegations of any impropriety. McCain aide Steve Schmidt came out swinging against the New York Times article back then, but in May of 2022, he said he had been lying to protect his boss.
In his 2022 mea culpa, Schmidt apologized for questioning the credibility of several New York Times journalists who, he now admits, were telling the truth in their 2008 article.
“Their credibility, integrity and professionalism were unfairly attacked by the McCain campaign of which I was a part of. I got it wrong,” Schmidt writes.
This latest episode isn’t really a story about Iseman and the alleged affair, however, but rather about how bad choices and bad lobbyists like Paul Manafort, seeds planted well over a decade ago, led to the Trump administration’s coziness with Putin and paved the way politically for the current disaster in Ukraine.
In his apology, Schmidt has plenty to say about “the biggest mistake I ever made:” not advising McCain against choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. It’s all a bit of juicy, if ancient, political gossip, if you’re into that sort of thing. The reason I find it interesting is that I’ve long thought that Palin’s brand of anti-government, truth-denying, they’re-all-out-to-get-us-regular-folks rhetoric paved the way for the all-out insanity of Q-Anon. In that respect, McCain laid the groundwork not only for a brand of extremism he went to his grave fighting, but also for his biggest opponent within the GOP, Donald Trump.
Schmidt has a similar take:
“His refusal to be honest about his mistake of picking her – and his unwillingness to confront the furies she unleashed – allowed an ember to grow into a conflagration that is foundational to our current catastrophic denial of reality and profound dishonesty of the far right.”
Ultimately, Schmidt’s final beef is not with the late Senator McCain, with whom he reconciled before his death, but with Meghan McCain, whom he accuses of “relentless, mean-spirited and unfounded attacks.” As for the late senator himself, Schmidt notes his “extraordinary capacity for reconciliation. Whether it was with the Vietnamese, anti-war protestors, or with political enemies, John McCain always found his way to forgiveness.”
As much as Schmidt admires the man, he refuses to mythologize him, portraying McCain instead as a brave but flawed individual whose choices to let the wolves into the henhouse reverberate to this day.
Wayback: you can watch the video of Cindy McCain with her husband during John McCain’s 2008 press conference about the Vicki Iseman allegations reported in the New York Times.
