MccClatchy Newspapers’ Greg Gordon filed an interesting report yesterday that appears to debunk John McCain’s claim that, after the embarrassment of the Keating Five scandal, he never again pressured regulators on behalf of a friend. In fact, the story says McCain “promoted an Arizona land swap that would’ve benefited a former mentor and partner of the scandal’s central figure.”

The story details McCain’s efforts in the late 1990s to forge a land swap with the U.S. Forest Service that would have benefited the owners of the Spur Cross Ranch, which included a company controlled by former Charles Keating associate Carl Lindner Jr.

Gordon notes that, before the deal fell through, “McCain and an aide pushed for the exchange in more than a half dozen sometimes-testy letters and phone calls up and down the Forest Service’s hierarchy, according to former agency officials and correspondence. McCain’s office even circulated draft legislation that would have overridden the agency’s objection to surrendering national forest land.”

The New York Times’ Larry Rohter reports on a notable absence from McCain’s “economic roundtable” on Monday: lobbyist and former Sen. Phil Gramm. Gramm, along with former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, has been “shunted off to Siberia, not because of policy disagreements but as the result of gaffes that reflected badly on the Republican candidate.” In Gramm’s case, of course, the gaffe was the infamous “nation of whiners” comment.

As has been noted, the Republican National Committee’s fundraising and spending is what’s really keeping McCain in the race at this point. Those of you interested in the nitty-gritty of how the RNC (and its Democratic counterpart) have been spending and raising money lately will appreciate this report from CQ Politics’ Greg Giroux.

National Journal has a new blog, “Under the Influence,” that focuses on the “lobbying and advocacy industry.” One of its first posts, by Alexis Simendinger, examines how lobbyists feel about being a punching bag in this year’s race. The lobbyists in this story call the focus on their profession “silly and arbitrary” and “at its core…political.” The new blog also offers up a PDF of how an Obama administration plans to deal with lobbyists.

Speaking of Obama, USA Today’s Ken Dilanian notes that business executives are warming up to the Democratic nominee. The story reports that among Obama’s donors, “5,845 list “CEO” or “chief executive” in their title, compared with 2,597 of McCain’s donors.” Interestingly, the executives quoted appear to be doing more than cozying up to a front-runner – their decision to give seems motivated by personal beliefs.

The Alaska legislature is expected to release its findings today in the “Troopergate” investigation, which has focused on whether John McCain’s VP pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, abused her power in pursuing the firing of her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, and in firing the state public safety commissioner after he refused to meet Palin’s demands. The Anchorage Daily News has the latest.

The New York Times also reports on the scandal – Serge F. Kovaleski writes that “the commissioner and his aides were contacted about Trooper Wooten three dozen times over 19 months by the governor, her husband and seven administration officials, interviews and documents show.”

As for McCain himself, The Washington Times has uncovered an interesting tidbit from the GOP nominee’s friendship with Charles Keating. In 1986 McCain, then a House member pursuing a Senate seat, sent Keating a letter apologizing for incorrectly listing Keating as a member of his campaign finance committee. Keating’s handwritten response? “Don’t be silly. You can call me anything, write anything or do anything. I’m yours till death do us part.”

The Washington Post’s Paul Kane and Glenn Kessler report on McCain’s gambling winnings: Apparently he’s been a loser at the craps table the past couple years, explaining his lack of gambling winnings on his tax returns. However, the campaign will only say that about 2006 and 2007. Returns from prior years still haven’t been disclosed.

Finally, Barack Obama has apparently raised a LOT of money – he’s going to air a half-hour infomercial in prime time on CBS and NBC on Oct. 29 and is in negotiations with other networks as well. Each block of time is estimated to cost around $2 million, The Washington Post’s Paul Farhi notes.

John McCain’s campaign and the Republican National Committee got some press yesterday by requesting an audit of Barack Obama’s contributions, citing concerns about foreign contributors. Turns out, however, that the FEC is concerned – about McCain’s fundraising.

The Washington Post’s Matthew Mosk reports that the agency sent the McCain campaign a letter with questions about donors who appear to have given well in excess of the legal limit.

Mosk writes, “The letter is accompanied by a nine-page list showing scores of overages from McCain’s August campaign finance report, including nearly $13,000 from Texas rancher Ray R. Barrett Jr.; $9,200 from an Iraqi security consultant, H. Carter Andress; and $5,000 from Joseph F. Davolio, an executive at a major national liquor, beer and wine distributor.”

McCain’s involvement to the Keating Five scandal – a topic brought up by Campaign Money Watch last week – has garnered more attention in the wake of a push by the Obama campaign to remind the public of one of the low points of McCain’s career. For those of you craving a blast from the past, The Chicago Tribune has reprinted a 1991 article on the story that says McCain “acted as if the committee had found they did nothing wrong.”

Finally, Campaign Money Watch’s David Donnelly gets quoted in a story about the campaign finance implications of scalping tickets to the Billy Joel/Bruce Springsteen concert that doubles as a benefit for Obama’s campaign – scalpers could be in double trouble for this one.

Campaign Money Watch has prepared a new ad for television broadcast that brings up a part of John McCain’s past he’d rather the media ignore: The Keating Five. The spot details the help John McCain provided to Charles Keating and the $112,000 in contributions and trips to the Bahamas McCain received from him.

McCain claims the Keating scandal was a turning point for him, an “ah ha” moment that set him on the right path. But as the ad points out, his own campaign manager’s firm received undisclosed payments from Freddie Mac (as recently as last month).

The New York Times’ Julie Bosman has more coverage of the ad, along with a few other third-party advertisements that have cropped up recently.

And, on the day of the vice presidential debate, we learn from the Winston Salem-Journal that John McCain’s VP pick, Sarah Palin, will attend a fundraiser in Greensboro on October 16.

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