John McCain's Quest: The Search for an Honest Republican

Today, Tom Loeffler was forced out of his position as John McCain's finance co-chair because of his on-going work as a lobbyist for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Evidently, McCain posed Loeffler the choice of either resigning from his lobbying position or resigning from the McCain campaign.

[Loeffler] is the fifth person to sever ties with the campaign amid a growing concern about whether lobbyists have too great an influence over McCain and the campaign. Last week, campaign manager Rick Davis issued a new policy that requires all campaign personnel to either resign or sever ties with lobbying firms or outside political groups.

Like a lot of conservatives who prefer Israel to the U. S., Loeffler decided to cast his lot with the Saudis rather than McCain.

But that creates a problem for McCain. How does he replace the departed campaign staffers? How many potential Republican campaign officials are not compromised by their connections with the various parties who might offend McCain's sense of ethics? Are there any experienced and effective Republican campaign officials out there who aren't linked to foreign governments, 527 sleaze groups, right-wing hate churches, Exxon-Mobile, Ann Coulter or some other unsavory party?

I'm not so sure.

What's McCain going to do?

I think he can turn Republican lemons into campaign lemonade by searching for an honest Republican the way Diogenes searched for an honest man. McCain could visit the Republican National Committee and business-oriented think tanks with a lamp in his hand and search for an untainted man or woman to help him run his campaign. He could also visit the Hoover Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, Fox News, and Rush Limbaugh.

I'm not suggesting that there are no honest Republicans. There must be a few men or women out there who could serve in McCain's campaign.

But he might have trouble finding them.