From the International Herald Tribune:

Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.

But last week the McCain campaign stepped up a running battle of guilt by association when it began broadcasting commercials trying to link Obama directly to the government bailout of the mortgage giants this month by charging that he takes advice from Fannie Mae’s former chief executive, Franklin Raines, an assertion both Raines and the Obama campaign dispute.

Incensed by the advertisements, several current and former executives of the companies came forward to discuss the role that Rick Davis, 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. Some who came forward were Democrats, but Republicans, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed their descriptions.

In my opinion? Watching both parties and campaigns attempt to portray the other in a negative light on this issue is utterly ludicrous. I would be surprised if anyone could find a person in Washington that did not have their hand in the cookie jar in one way or another, who did not receive donations or whose staff does not include a person, current or former, that was employed or defended in some small way an entity connected with this mess.

It was dumb and short sighted of the McCain camp to launch such attacks.