South Portland, MAINE–
After a very unflattering article in the New York Times in February alleging an inappropriate relationship with a female lobbyist (which the camp completely denied), the McCain camp is in another argument with the Gray Lady. The presumptive Republican nominee wrote a response to Barack Obama’s Op-Ed on his Iraq policy published on July 14th. But, the McCain camp says the New York Times will not print the response as is. According to e-mails provided by the McCain campaign between them and the New York Times’ op-ed editor, David Shipley, the editor says he is “eager to publish the Senator on the Op-Ed page,” but that he is not “able to accept this piece as currently written” and he would be “pleased” to “look at another draft.”

In the unpublished Op-Ed, McCain goes after his rival for not supporting the troop surge in Iraq, “The success of the surge has not changed Senator Obama’s determination to pull out all of our combat troops. All that has changed is his rationale,” McCain then goes after Obama’s ‘Plan for Iraq,’ which the New York Times published, “ It consisted of the same old proposal to pull all of our troops out within 16 months. In 2007 he wanted to withdraw because he thought the war was lost. If we had taken his advice, it would have been.”

McCain also hits Obama on his plan to withdraw the majority of troops from Iraq within 16-months, “But I have also said that any draw-downs must be based on a realistic assessment of conditions on the ground, not on an artificial timetable crafted for domestic political reasons. This is the crux of my disagreement with Senator Obama.”

The Arizona Republican says Obama never speaks about winning the war, but only of ending it and says that he will continue to improve conditions in Iraq and also Afghanistan, “ A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president. Instead I will continue implementing a proven counterinsurgency strategy not only in Iraq but also in Afghanistan with the goal of creating stable, secure, self-sustaining democratic allies.”

In the e-mail exchange, Shipley said that Obama’s Op-Ed “offered new information” because it previewed the presumptive Democratic nominee’s speech on Iraq. He added that “it would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama’s piece,” explaining that the Op-Ed would articulate how McCain “defines victory in Iraq” with a plan “for achieving victory– with troops levels, timetables and measures for compelling the Iraqis to cooperate. And it would need to describe the Senator’s Afghanistan strategy, spelling out how it meshes with his Iraq plan.”

The McCain campaign sees this as media bias and the New York Times favoring the Democratic candidate, “John McCain believes that victory in Iraq must be based on conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables,” Spokesperson Tucker Bounds said in an e-mailed statement, “Unlike Barack Obama, that position will not change based on politics or the demands of the New York Times.”

McCain is against setting timetables for troop withdrawals, but did say today that if conditions continue to improve in Iraq he sees troops coming home within the next two years.

McCain Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker was on Fox News and blasted the newspaper, “ We have elections in this country, not coronations and it is unfortunate that the New York Times wouldn’t let their readers hear from John McCain and make their own judgment.”

The New York Times responded pointing out that they have published at least seven previous McCain Op-Eds and that they endorsed him in the primaries, “ It is standard procedure on our Op-Ed page, and that of other newspapers, to go back and forth with an author on his or her submission. We look forward to publishing Senator McCain’s views in our paper just as we have in the past,” spokesperson Catherine Mathis said in an e-mailed statement, “We have published at least seven Op-Ed pieces by Senator McCain since 1996. The New York Times endorsed Senator McCain as the Republican candidate in the presidential primaries. We take his views very seriously.”

“