The New York Times attempt to smear Republican Presidential nominee John McCain with unsourced, antique innuendo has so far been a miserable failure.
The extensive coverage of Sen. John McCain’s denunciation of the New York Times story about his alleged links to a female lobbyist underscored the united front by the McCains — who appeared together in Toledo, Ohio — and the reaction of the GOP’s right wing, which appeared energized by the story. In addition, the McCain campaign’s use of the story to spark a new fundraising campaign, doubts among non-conservatives about the anonymous sourcing of the piece, and Times executive editor Bill Keller’s mildly phrased defense of the story received prominent coverage. Relatively little reporting was devoted to the actual allegations of McCain doing favors for the lobbyist’s firm.
Speaking for myself alone, here on the right, I was a nominee-supporter before this, relearning the conservatism of John McCain which had been pushed aside while he pursued his campaign finance reform/speech control bit and his stubbornness about AGW and drilling in ANWR. Now, with a loathsome rag like The New Republic bullying the old, gray drunk lady into publishing a piece of unsourced crap, the McCain is One of Us fire can burn.
