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Why Are We Talking About Keating, Ayers?

Mac has forgotten the lessons of the scandal that made him a better man

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 7, 2008 1:25 PM CDT

(Newser) – Barack Obama's camp resurrected the Keating Five as a “eye for an eye” campaign issue this week, after the McCain team revived Obama's sometime relationship with Bill Ayers, the former '60s-era radical. But the Obama folks missed what makes the 20-year-old scandal actually relevant, writes Walter Shapiro on Salon. In the crucible of that scandal, in which McCain admitted acting improperly to benefit a supporter, he vowed to commit himself to scrupulously clean politics and complete transparency. 

Those vows became the “driving narrative” of McCain’s political career—until this campaign. Now, John McCain “has abandoned all the good-government habits that he adopted after he was chastised by the Ethics Committee,” writes Shapiro. The former “most accessible” major US politician has closed the doors on the media, and “it has become difficult to believe that John McCain recalls the larger lessons about personal honor that he supposedly carried away” from the incident, Shapiro notes.

McCain has forgotten the pledge to reform he made after the Keating Five scandal.
McCain has forgotten the pledge to reform he made after the Keating Five scandal.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
In a Nov. 20, 1990 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, sits with his attorney John Dowd during a Senate Ethics Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.
In a Nov. 20, 1990 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, sits with his attorney John Dowd during a Senate Ethics Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/John Duricka)
Barack Obama and John McCain's campaigns are both getting dirty, writes Shapiro.
Barack Obama and John McCain's campaigns are both getting dirty, writes Shapiro.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Debate moderator Jim Lehrer poses a question to Barack Obama and John McCain during the presidential debate Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.
Debate moderator Jim Lehrer poses a question to Barack Obama and John McCain during the presidential debate Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.   (AP Photo/Chip Somodevilla, Pool)
Barack Obama shake hands with John McCain  after their presidential debate Friday, Sept. 26, 2008 at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss.
Barack Obama shake hands with John McCain after their presidential debate Friday, Sept. 26, 2008 at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss.   (AP Photo/Chip Somodevilla, Pool)
Barack Obama and John McCain shake hands following their presidential debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.
Barack Obama and John McCain shake hands following their presidential debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
John McCain and Barack Obama join each other on stage at the conclusion of the presidential debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.
John McCain and Barack Obama join each other on stage at the conclusion of the presidential debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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It seems that McCain has made a Faustian bargain to try to win the White House. If successful, he will have power. But if he fails, he will only have his regrets and his late-in-life reputation for low-road tactics. - Walter Shapiro

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