Times Rejects McCain Op-Ed 'as Currently Written'

The New York Times has turned down John McCain's rebuttal to a recent Barack Obama op-ed on Iraq, telling the Republican’s campaign it isn’t “able to accept this piece as currently written.” A campaign insider tells Drudge that the Grey Lady simply doesn’t agree with his candidate’s policies; the op-ed editor maintains Mac didn’t “offer new information” in his piece.

David Shipley, who once served as a speechwriter to President Clinton, said McCain—like Obama—“would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how [he] defines victory in Iraq.” Drudge also runs the submission in its entirety; in it, Mac says of his rival, “I am dismayed that he never talks about winning the war—only of ending it.” (More Barack Obama stories.)