The Washington Post has yet another front page “Bad Lobbyist Works For McCain” story. What is missing: any indication that John McCain ever capitulated to any of the pleas from Charlie Black, who is the focus of this tale of supposedly dastardly intrigue. And if you suffer through half of it you get to the kicker: McCain threw Black and one of his clients out of his office for insinuating that McCain’s position on a certain matter was “parochial.” Well, that seals it. Can’t have a candidate who takes campaign guidance from lobbyists but does nothing for their clients.

And this is the Alice in Wonderland world of journalism and holier-than-thou politics in which we now reside. Even one of Barack Obama’s supporters lets on that lobbyists are not in and of themselves evil. And of course there is practically no coverage of the Obama’s lobbying connections.

But the real point here is: what has the candidate done with regard to lobbying interests? Did he vote for a $300 billion farm bill and an equally bloated energy bill? Or did he drive them crazy by investigating their clients and and rejecting their earmarks?

So far McCain has not done a very effective job of making this distinction, and instead has played into the mainstream media’s hands by firing loyal staffers and advisors with lobbying connections. Perhaps he should stop playing their game. It’s one he’ll never win–and one that ultimately does nothing for his efforts to show that he’s the one with the positive record on special interests.