After repeatedly rejecting MSNBC's Rachel Maddow's invitations to appear on her show, the campaign for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) finally sent aide Nancy Pfotenhauer to appear as a guest on Friday night. Maddow opened by saying she "could not be happier" to welcome Pfotenhauer:


Since this show started, we have been talking a lot about what's been going wrong with he McCain campaign and what they or he the candidate could do about it. But we have yet to have the benefit of hearing directly from anyone from the McCain campaign to share with us their view of the state of the race. That all changed tonight, and I could not be happier about it.

Maddow asked Pfotenhauer about Friday's Washington Post article detailing McCain's Senate chief of staff's close and lucrative ties to Freddie Mac -- coupled with McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis, who earned millions lobbying for Fannie and Freddie. Pfotenhauer brushed off the question, claiming "everybody has plenty of associations to point to." Watch it: