It may be too early for the post-mortems on the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY.

But given her troubles of late, the pre-mortems are rolling in.

There’s enough blame to go around, but Mark Penn, Clinton’s chief strategist and pollster, is taking a lot of the hits.

Faced with questions this past week about his dealings with lobbyist Vicki Iseman, Sen. John McCain had another lobbyist speak in his defense.

“Neither Sen. McCain nor the campaign will dignify false rumors and gossip by responding to them,” Charles R. Black Jr., McCain’s chief political adviser, told The Washington Post Thursday. “John McCain has never done favors for anyone, not lobbyists or any special interest.”

More than one media outlet pointed out the irony of Black’s serving as a point man on the lobbyist issue, as Black himself is a high-powered, well-connected Washington lobbyist.