McCain Denies Lobbyist Scandal, Attacks Times

'I have never even been alone with Sen. McCain,' Vicki Iseman says

(NEWSER) - Vicki Iseman lashed out at the New York Times and a former John McCain adviser for the February story that implied an affair occurred between her and the Republican candidate, the National Journal reports. “I did not have a sexual relationship with Sen. McCain,” Iseman says. In fact, the lobbyist amplifies, “I have never even been alone with Sen. McCain.” More»

Calls female lobbyist a 'friend,' denies any 'unwarranted access or influence'

(NEWSER) - A subdued John McCain, flanked by his wife, held a press conference today to deny all charges in a New York Times story alleging improprieties involving a female lobbyist. Saying he is "disappointed" in the Times, and that the story alleging a romantic relationship is "not true," McCain said that he and Vicki Iseman are just friends, and that he did not do favors for her as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. He said no former staffer ever spoke to him about an appearance of impropriety in his relationship with Iseman, as several claimed to the Times. More»

Campaign aims to do the opposite of McCain

(NEWSER) - Team Romney’s rule of thumb: Do the opposite of everything John McCain did in 2008, or so reports Politico in a look at the campaign's strategy. The approach applies broadly, say advisers—focus hugely on the economy, fully engage in fundraising, integrate early with the Republican National Committee—but comes most into play in the search for a VP. The campaign doesn’t want to end up with its own version of Sarah Palin, so it is going to great lengths to avoid anyone who could be seen as unprepared. The goal, according to one official: Go with an "incredibly boring white guy." More»

And Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin is still pretty scary: reactions

(NEWSER) - If you thought Julianne Moore's Sarah Palin was terrifying in the first Game Change teaser , wait until you see her in the full trailer, where she utters lines such as, "We have to win this thing. I so don’t want to go back to Alaska." Watch below, then read on for some reactions:

• This will clearly be "a Frankenstein-esque story about McCain’s staffers coming to regret the choice they made in bringing a little-known governor into the limelight," writes Jon Bershad at Mediaite . "The full trailer ... gives us even more famous actors getting their turn to stare in horror at the 'monster' they’ve created."

HBO debuts first teaser

(NEWSER) - For all of you who have spent the past nine months wondering how Julianne Moore’s Sarah Palin impersonation will stack up against Tina Fey’s , you finally have your answer. HBO debuted its first teaser trailer for Game Change, the film due in March that's based on the Mark Halperin-John Heilemann book about the 2008 presidential election. Neither Ed Harris as John McCain nor Woody Harrelson as top adviser Steve Schmidt sound much like their real-life counterparts, notes David Jackson in USA Today , but Moore’s Palin is spot-on: Numerous publications including People , New York , the Huffington Post , and Jezebel are fairly impressed. More»