McCain Camp: Magazine Precipitated Times Story
DETROIT – Calling the New York Times article a "smear" and "deeply unfair," an adviser to John McCain said a story in The New Republic about the machinations behind the scenes of the Times precipitated the printing of today's story.
"It reads like gossip," said adviser Steve Schmidt. "In the proud tradition of that newspaper, today is not one of those days." Schmidt pledged that McCain will go on with his campaign and acknowledged that the McCain camp is cooling off about the issue. "Last night we were angry and today we are disappointed," Schmidt said.
He believes that The New Republic piece out today forced the Times' hand. The story of McCain and the lobbyist was well known gossip in Washington circles, Schmidt explained, but The New Republic alerted the New York Times that they were going to write about it, so the Times made a decision to publish the article.
"This is a story about journalism more than it is a story about John McCain," Schmidt said, adding that he's heard from journalists, professors, and other objective observers who say this story should not have been printed. "We understand that when the New York Times puts a story like this on their front page it causes a frenzy, which is why we are disappointed," he said.
Schmidt says they will not take legal action because he doesn't think it's a winnable case since McCain is a public figure.
In the next few days, Schmidt thinks the New York Times will have a harder time than his candidate. "I think it's going to play out very badly for the New York Times," he said. "John McCain will be fine."