The Other McCain

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Troy King and the Scandal That Dare Not Speak Its Name: Way Down (Low) in Dixie

Posted on | February 5, 2010 | 49 Comments

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Everybody who follows Alabama politics knows about the gossip and everybody has a sarcastic joke about the state attorney general, so it’s not exactly news, which may partly explain why the state’s establishment media won’t touch it with a 10-foot pole.

Do a Google search and it’s hard to miss the online rumor that swirled in 2008 when the name of Troy King, who had been John McCain’s state campaign chairman, was inexplicably scrubbed from the campaign’s Web site. King previously had been rumored as a 2010 gubernatorial candidate, but the new rumor seems to have put an end to that talk.

The rumor was quite specific, involving J.W. Godwin, who interned in King’s office and was subsequently hired as an aide. Reports that the 24-year-old Godwin was being paid nearly $60,000 — a princely sum in Alabama, where the cost of living is very low – added grist to the rumor mill.

No political reporter in the Heart of Dixie will go near the ugly gossip about King, a Baptist who has a wife and three children. Maybe it’s all a left-wing Internet smear and, trust me, I’ve got first-hand experience with that stuff. At some point, however, a rumor becomes news.

King is up for re-election and the question is whether the Alabama press corps — or King’s Democratic opponent — will ignore this gossip until after Election Day in November. My guess? Probably not. Even if news reporters won’t touch this subject, that certainly hasn’t stopped Mobile Press-Register editorial cartoonist J.D. Crowe, who has taken to depicting King in kinky S&M regalia:

From a newsman’s angle, the question is this: How long until TPM, Daily Kos or Rachel Maddow takes notice of this rumor, forcing the Alabama press to stop pretending it doesn’t exist? 

Let me get one thing straight (no pun intended): This wasn’t the story I came to Alabama to cover. While I was in Boston covering Scott Brown’s Senate race, I met Rick Barber, a Tea Party-backed congressional candidate who traveled to Massachusetts to volunteer for the Brown campaign. Since I’ve been following this theme for months — the impact of the grassroots uprising on GOP politics – the Barber campaign seemed like a natural excuse for me to make a trip down home, and I learned there were related stories in Alabama, including the campaigns of Les Phillip (the Tea Party candidate against Parker Griffith) and gubernatorial candidate Tim James.

However, as soon as I started blogging about the idea of a trip to Alabama, an anonymous tipster asked me if I was going to check out the talk about Troy King. I’d never even heard of the guy, so I Googled the name and discovered a very curious fact: Both of Alabama’s Republican senators had endorsed King’s GOP primary opponent last fall.

Three words: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

That’s what we call a “clue,” Dr. Watson. Anybody who knows anything about politics would understand the profound significance of that story, and yet national media scarcely noticed it. Whatever the reason, Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions clearly view King as a liability for the GOP in this crucial mid-term election.

 Maybe Shelby and Session’s aren’t concerned about the Rumor That Dare Not Speak Its Name (172,000 hits). Maybe it’s all the talk about Troy King and gambling lobbyists. Maybe it’s the parade of King aides who’ve been called to testify before the federal grand jury. Clearly, however, there is the sense that the GOP attorney general is a ticking scandal-bomb that might explode into ugly headlines soon, and Republicans are worried about the potential for collateral damage in a year when all the political indicators seem to favor the GOP.

Nasty rumors are a dime a dozen in politics and, as I said, this might be just another left-wing blog smear. If so, the rumor needs to be refuted and the rumor-mongers silenced, rather than to permit a vicious whisper campaign to continue damaging innocent reputations. As it is now, the widespread gossip about Troy King portrays him as a cross between Jack Abramoff and Ted Haggard, a major Republican scandal just waiting to happen.

How long can Alabama’s political reporters ignore it?

UPDATE: Is Troy King The GOP’s Next Larry Craig? Or, considering the Florida connection, how about the next Charlie Crist?

UPDATE II: Alabama Republicans and the Tea Party movement are making big news today, but my misfortune is to actually be in Alabama covering Tea Party Republicans, so I’m suffering from a linky-love deficit. If only I could get Alyssa Milano to re-Tweet me . . .

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Category: Alabama, Republicans, Scandal, Sex

Comments

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  • Chuck Cross

    Funny — Uneasy Rider ’88 by Charlie Daniels just came on my pandora.com radio haha

  • Chuck Cross

    Funny — Uneasy Rider ’88 by Charlie Daniels just came on my pandora.com radio haha

  • http://www.harlemghost.blogspot.com Jeff

    He’s the Alabama AG right ? He’s not running for or holding Federal office in 2010 right ?
    Who cares outside of Alabama ?

    The Shelby extortion nomination holds are a much more damaging story for the GOP.

  • http://www.harlemghost.blogspot.com Jeff

    He’s the Alabama AG right ? He’s not running for or holding Federal office in 2010 right ?
    Who cares outside of Alabama ?

    The Shelby extortion nomination holds are a much more damaging story for the GOP.

  • http://theothermccain.com Robert Stacy McCain

    Uneasy Rider

    IYKWIMAITYD . . .

  • http://theothermccain.com Robert Stacy McCain
  • http://theothermccain.com Robert Stacy McCain
  • http://theothermccain.com Robert Stacy McCain

    Uneasy Rider

    IYKWIMAITYD . . .

  • http://theothermccain.com Robert Stacy McCain
  • http://theothermccain.com Robert Stacy McCain

    Who cares outside of Alabama ?

    Who cared about Eliot Spitzer doing hookers until it made headlines?

  • http://theothermccain.com Robert Stacy McCain

    Who cares outside of Alabama ?

    Who cared about Eliot Spitzer doing hookers until it made headlines?

  • http://theothermccain.com Robert Stacy McCain

    Who cares outside of Alabama ?

    Who cared about Eliot Spitzer doing hookers until it made headlines?

  • http://thecampofthesaints.wordpress.com Bob Belvedere

    We have to care because the Leftists will take the scandal and make it national news.

  • http://thecampofthesaints.wordpress.com Bob Belvedere

    We have to care because the Leftists will take the scandal and make it national news.

  • http://thecampofthesaints.wordpress.com Bob Belvedere

    We have to care because the Leftists will take the scandal and make it national news.

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  • http://twitter.com/kevinjjones Kevin J Jones

    How much blackmail goes on because of vices like those alleged here? The WashTimes’ expose of the Craig Spence prostitution/blackmail ring and its links to the GHWB White House suggests this is a major factor in our political life. Everybody has allies vulnerable to this, so a crackdown would cause Mutually Assured Destruction.

  • http://twitter.com/kevinjjones Kevin J Jones

    How much blackmail goes on because of vices like those alleged here? The WashTimes’ expose of the Craig Spence prostitution/blackmail ring and its links to the GHWB White House suggests this is a major factor in our political life. Everybody has allies vulnerable to this, so a crackdown would cause Mutually Assured Destruction.

  • http://twitter.com/kevinjjones Kevin J Jones

    How much blackmail goes on because of vices like those alleged here? The WashTimes’ expose of the Craig Spence prostitution/blackmail ring and its links to the GHWB White House suggests this is a major factor in our political life. Everybody has allies vulnerable to this, so a crackdown would cause Mutually Assured Destruction.

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  • Joe

    You do not want to pass on a false rumor. As you well know Stacy, they are nasty work. Patterico likes to ask those questions, until it turns on him.

    But at the same time, a rumor does reach the point it is a legitimate story to pursue. If it is done with a goal of being honest, letting the facts prove or disprove it, fair enough. If the goal is to find or make up “facts” to reach some set idea, I have a problem with that.

  • Joe

    You do not want to pass on a false rumor. As you well know Stacy, they are nasty work. Patterico likes to ask those questions, until it turns on him.

    But at the same time, a rumor does reach the point it is a legitimate story to pursue. If it is done with a goal of being honest, letting the facts prove or disprove it, fair enough. If the goal is to find or make up “facts” to reach some set idea, I have a problem with that.

  • Joe

    You do not want to pass on a false rumor. As you well know Stacy, they are nasty work. Patterico likes to ask those questions, until it turns on him.

    But at the same time, a rumor does reach the point it is a legitimate story to pursue. If it is done with a goal of being honest, letting the facts prove or disprove it, fair enough. If the goal is to find or make up “facts” to reach some set idea, I have a problem with that.

  • Joe

    Now this is a story.

    Don’t you guys protect your own?

  • Joe

    Now this is a story.

    Don’t you guys protect your own?

  • Joe

    Now this is a story.

    Don’t you guys protect your own?

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  • Gordon Winslow

    There was a similar rumor about Texas governor Rick Perry–that he was caught in the sack with a male aide or something along those lines. It was all over the place six years ago. The mainstream press ignored it, and it faded (although I still hear it once in awhile). Perry won re-election handily.

    This sounds like the exact same rumor, imported a couple of states over. So it’s probably BS.

  • Gordon Winslow

    There was a similar rumor about Texas governor Rick Perry–that he was caught in the sack with a male aide or something along those lines. It was all over the place six years ago. The mainstream press ignored it, and it faded (although I still hear it once in awhile). Perry won re-election handily.

    This sounds like the exact same rumor, imported a couple of states over. So it’s probably BS.

  • Gordon Winslow

    There was a similar rumor about Texas governor Rick Perry–that he was caught in the sack with a male aide or something along those lines. It was all over the place six years ago. The mainstream press ignored it, and it faded (although I still hear it once in awhile). Perry won re-election handily.

    This sounds like the exact same rumor, imported a couple of states over. So it’s probably BS.

  • confused and interested

    What were they doing with an inflatable pig? Do they (china) actually make inflatable sex pigs?

    I sure hope Mr. King isn’t part of that Sons of the Confederacy group. Talk about embarrassing.

  • confused and interested

    What were they doing with an inflatable pig? Do they (china) actually make inflatable sex pigs?

    I sure hope Mr. King isn’t part of that Sons of the Confederacy group. Talk about embarrassing.

  • confused and interested

    What were they doing with an inflatable pig? Do they (china) actually make inflatable sex pigs?

    I sure hope Mr. King isn’t part of that Sons of the Confederacy group. Talk about embarrassing.

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  • http://www.flashpointblog.com Brian

    As an Alabama based political blogger, I thought you might like to read my thoughts on this rumor, written just after it started to spread.

    Cliff Notes version: I don’t care for Troy King, but I believe these are only politically motivated rumors.

    BTW, the impetus for the inflatable pig cartoon was over an Alabama law banning sex toys. King is a big fan of the law and a former Libertarian candidate for governor (Loretta Nall) made a point of sending him care packages consisting of sex toys.

  • http://www.flashpointblog.com Brian

    As an Alabama based political blogger, I thought you might like to read my thoughts on this rumor, written just after it started to spread.

    Cliff Notes version: I don’t care for Troy King, but I believe these are only politically motivated rumors.

    BTW, the impetus for the inflatable pig cartoon was over an Alabama law banning sex toys. King is a big fan of the law and a former Libertarian candidate for governor (Loretta Nall) made a point of sending him care packages consisting of sex toys.

  • http://www.flashpointblog.com Brian

    As an Alabama based political blogger, I thought you might like to read my thoughts on this rumor, written just after it started to spread.

    Cliff Notes version: I don’t care for Troy King, but I believe these are only politically motivated rumors.

    BTW, the impetus for the inflatable pig cartoon was over an Alabama law banning sex toys. King is a big fan of the law and a former Libertarian candidate for governor (Loretta Nall) made a point of sending him care packages consisting of sex toys.

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