NYT editorial: One Man’s Crony ...

In Tuesday night’s debate, Senator John McCain denounced Senator Barack Obama and his “cronies” for receiving campaign money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was odd to hear him denounce lobbyists, whom he once called “birds of prey,” particularly for those two mortgage companies.

By that standard, Mr. McCain is living in a virtual aviary with, among others, his campaign manager and his White House transition planner, bona fide heavyweights in the power game of lobbying and consulting.

It was Mr. McCain who chose to make this a big deal. His campaign attack ads accusing Mr. Obama of questionable ties to Fannie and Freddie have backfired. It turns out that the Washington firm of Rick Davis, Mr. McCain’s campaign manager, was profiting handsomely from Freddie retainers until the government took over the mortgage-finance companies last month amid the credit crisis.

Mr. McCain insisted that Mr. Davis had no involvement with his business for several years. But he appears to have been benefiting from the $15,000 a month that Freddie paid the firm from the end of 2005 through last August. Previously, Mr. Davis was paid nearly $2 million across five years in running a group set up by Fannie and Freddie officials to beat back stricter regulation.

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