McCain: February 2008 Archives

There is also the issue from 1994 regarding federal prosecutors looking into whether the senator's wife received special treatment when she was allowed to apply for a diversion program rather than face prosecution for stealing painkillers from an international medical charity she headed.

Even after it turned out Cindy McCain lied about her status with federal prosecutors and about the dates when she'd entered treatment, it never blew up into scandal. Her husband by her side, she entered a federal diversion program instead of spending years doing time, and when she left, her record was cleared.

None of this was bad for McCain.  Until only days after his wife's legal agreement was reached, McCain voted against crime legislation that would have provided $1 billion in funding for more diversion programs that might have helped others.

The negative attacks against John McCain will not come from Mike Huckabee, but from the Democratic nominee in the general election.  Huckabee is only staying in the race as a favor to McCain and the GOP, so McCain can continue to be front-page news as he racks up more primary victories. 

For instance, this week McCain shares the spotlight with Obama as they both swept the “Potomac” primaries.  Had Huckabee dropped out of the race, the nightly news would have only featured Obama’s victories over Hillary Clinton.  As long as Huckabee stays in the race, McCain continues to look good in the press and will continue his momentum until he finally clinches the nomination. 

Likewise, McCain will not attack Huckabee.  The negatives against Huckabee will only come out should McCain make him his running mate.  In that case, there would be plenty of ammo for the Democrats against Huckabee.