No, they most certainly do not

Rest in peace, John McCain.

I worked on John Kerry's 2004 campaign. In those days, campaign contributions were all checks, very little was done online. The required reporting was arduous. Forget cutting corners; in some ways John Kerry is a true Boy Scout.

We were warned against complaining about the campaign finance reporting: "Remember, it's called MCCAIN-Feingold." Volunteers 980 miles outside of Boston knew not to say anything negative about John McCain while in a room with John Kerry's name on the door.

Don't believe it for a second when today's dirty political doings are explained away with "everyone does it." No, they don't. These two Vietnam-era public servants didn't.