NY Times Smears McCain

by Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families: The New York Times ran a front page hit piece on Senator McCain today that reached new lows for "yellow journalism." The article, written by five - count them, five - Times reporters used innuendo and gossip to hint at an inappropriate relationship between Senator McCain and a female lobbyist. Senator McCain and his wife, Cindy, held a press conference at 9:00 AM this morning to confront the charges directly. He flatly denied their accuracy and both expressed their extreme disappointment that the New York Times had engaged in such a baseless smear.

Here are some additional points to consider: This is not new "news." The Times has dredged up old stories from eight years ago that it chose not to report then. Why are they suddenly relevant today? Because John McCain will be the Republican nominee, and they are trying to destroy him. Moreover, Senator McCain's staff provided numerous examples of votes he cast against this particular lobbyist's interests, which strongly suggests he was not being unduly influenced. The Times did not include any of those examples in the report, which strongly suggests that the Times was not being "fair and balanced" in its reporting.

Unfortunately, there is something else at work here. This is now the predictable reaction by liberal Big Media to any Republican presidential candidate. In 2000, they dug up a decades-old DUI charge against then- Governor George W. Bush that almost cost him the election. In 2004, CBS and Dan Rather tried to take down Bush again by basing a story on what turned out to be a fake memo suggesting the president had gotten special treatment to avoid the draft. The target is always the same - conservative candidates - and the goal is always the same - to suppress voter turnout among people like us who care about character and moral issues.

Meanwhile, liberal favorites, like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, get a free ride. I could cite three "scandals" about Obama right now that the media are virtually ignoring. No doubt the New York Times is just too busy digging up dirt on Republicans to investigate anyone else. I believe this smear against McCain will backfire, just as similar smears against other conservative candidates have. But don't miss the main point: The political Left and its allies know they must stop McCain at all costs if they are going to reach their goal of controlling Congress, the White House and our courts, and turn our country sharply to the left. They want to see the United States in retreat; they want the courts ordering same-sex "marriage"; they want socialized medicine; they want to preserve abortion-on-demand; they want higher taxes and bigger government; and they will do whatever they have to do in order to destroy conservatives. Today's New York Times hatchet job is just a taste of what we can expect in the days ahead.

But the Times may have another motive too: It is diverting the public's attention from the very real divisions confronting Democrats. As Obama's insurgent campaign builds momentum, the Clinton machine is getting increasingly desperate, and Democrat elites are getting increasingly nervous. In recent days, one top Clinton campaign advisor said that Obama's primary victories are "irrelevant," and he arrogantly predicted that Hillary would win the nomination with the support of "super delegates" at the convention. Another Clinton strategist essentially said that Hillary is now prepared to go negative and knock Barack down for his inexperience and the obvious fact that he is not qualified to be commander-in-chief. Knowing that Hillary still has a few cards up her sleeve, Al Sharpton is making demands of Howard Dean and the Democrat National Committee to not seat delegates from Florida and Michigan, while Jesse Jackson is warning both Clinton and Obama not to "hurt themselves substantially, perhaps irreparably."

Here's a final point to ponder about the timing of this story: Perhaps the New York Times is panicking, too. A national poll released yesterday by Rasmussen Reports showed that John McCain is beating Senator Hillary Clinton 47%-to-43%, and he is only a few points behind Senator Obama, even though the media is "All Obama all the time!" See Also: GOPUSA - McCain Says Report on Lobbyist Not True

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Tags: Gary Bauer, John Mccain, New York Times, smears