Clark Hoyt, The New York Times Public Editor followed up on the follow-up yesterday on the smear job on John McCain on Thursday:
It was not for want of trying. Four highly respected reporters in the Washington bureau worked for months on the story and were pressed repeatedly to get sources on the record and to find documentary evidence like e-mail. If McCain had been having an affair with a lobbyist seeking his help on public policy issues, and The Times had proved it, it would have been a story of unquestionable importance.
Unfortunately for the Old Gray Lady, he didn’t and it wasn’t.
But, at least today’s apology is better than yesterday’s slam on their stupid readers.
Chicago Boyz has more on the McCain fundraiser.
Stephen Hayes at The Weekly Standard added this on scandal from Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman:
“I think a lot of people here in this building with experience in a couple campaigns have grown accustomed to the fact that during the course of the campaign, seemingly on maybe a monthly basis leading up to the convention, maybe weekly basis after that, the New York Times does try to drop a bombshell on the Republican nominee… Sometimes they make incredible leaps to try to drop those bombshells.”
Related… Here’s the latest proof of TIME Magazine’s anti-Bush bias.
