A New York Times Friday front-page negative-shaded article on Cindy McCain, wife of presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), is stirring up some outrage, especially when the spread was in “the newspaper of record,” observes Grumpy Editor.
In contrast, meanwhile, it is recalled that McCain opponent Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) on ABC’s “Good Morning America” last May 19 issued a warning to “lay off my wife.”
The Times story --- with elements similar to those found in supermarket tabloids --- by Jodi Kantor and David M. Halbfinger focused on personal matters including mentions of Cindy McCain’s miscarriages, her past addiction to painkillers and her failure to fit in the Washington scene.
Among dopey trivia worked into the lengthy Times text:
• “Mrs. McCain (is) nearly two decades younger than her husband…”
• “Those close to Mrs. McCain say she aspires to be like another blonde, glamorous figure married to an older man: Diana, the Princess of Wales.”
• A person who formerly socialized with the McCains recalls Cindy “as gracious but timid, unschooled in Washington conversation and worried about fitting in.”
• “For his (Senate) district offices, (Cindy) ordered native Arizonan plants --- which all promptly died…”
• “Mrs. McCain expanded her childhood home, turning it into a 10,000-square-foot mansion that struck more than one visitor as a shrine to her husband.”
• “If Mr. McCain wins, she would have to return to the town she says she dislikes, attending the same sorts of luncheons she once fled from.”
The McCain campaign complained that The Times’ article co-writer Kantor went fishing in e-mailing a 16-year-old friend of the McCains' youngest child, seeking more information on Cindy McCain.
According to Fox News, Cindy McCain Attorney John Dowd earlier this month wrote to The Times’ Executive Editor Bill Keller accusing him of biased coverage for not pursuing more information about Obama's personal life.
"It is worth noting that you have not employed your investigative assets looking into Michelle Obama," Dowd wrote.
"You have not tried to find Barack Obama's drug dealer that he wrote about in his book, 'Dreams of My Father,’” Dowd added. “Nor have you interviewed his poor relatives in Kenya and determined why Barack Obama has not rescued them. Thus, there is a terrific lack of balance here."
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