Talk about blowback: McCain's recent ads painting Obama as in the Fannie/Freddie pocket didn't sit well with some significant people. As the New York Times reports tonight:
Incensed by the advertisements, several current and former executives of the companies came forward to discuss the role that Rick Davis, Mr. McCain’s campaign manager and longtime adviser, played in helping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac beat back regulatory challenges when he served as president of their advocacy group, the Homeownership Alliance, formed in the summer of 2000.
This is not the first we've heard of this -- Davis' ties to HA are well known. But it's the first we've learned of what HA actually does, and how handsomely Davis benefited from their attention. And, most importantly, why they gave it.
Davis evidently made $30,000 a month from his work with the Homeownership Alliance. He brought his clients the promise of closer interaction McCain, whom they all predicted would run for president again.
Other than that, Davis didn't really do much. In other words, his greatest value to these people was access -- he was worth the money because and only because he might lead his customers to McMaverick.
The bucks paid off. In 2004, Davis managed to lure his famous friend to a 2004 Homeownership Alliance awards banquet. According to the Times, "The organization printed a photograph of Mr. McCain at the event in its 2004 annual report, bolstering its clout and credibility."
Here's the kicker: When asked about this in the past, McCain has flailed about like a drowning monkey in protest, insisting, insisting, that David did nothing wrong. Tucker Bounds says that Habitat for Humanity belongs to the Homeownership Alliance, and Davis was only helping out minority homeowners.
Lie, lie, lie: "More than a half-dozen current and former executives, however, said the Homeownership Alliance was set up mainly to defend Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by promoting their role in the housing market."
And his involvement came at a time when Fannie and Freddie were being threatened with regulations to keeping them from making too many bad bets.
Compare that to Obama's relationship to Franklin Raines which . . . uh . . . doesn't actually exist.
I hope this breaks open wide.