<p>The CaucusThe latest political news from around the nation. Join the discussion.</p>
<p>Vicki Iseman at an awards dinner in 2004.</p>
<p>A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, in his offices and aboard a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.</p>