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Los Angeles: A New York Times story accusing Senator John McCain of an untoward relationship with a Washington lobbyist set off a furore among readers and journalists, and it seemed to unify conservative commentators around the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
For much of Thursday, a debate raged across the internet, cable television and talk radio about the story headlined, "For McCain, Self-Confidence of Ethics Poses Its Own Risk".
Some journalism analysts and voters said the newspaper story that explored McCain's interaction with a Washington lobbyist exposed hypocrisy by McCain, who has cultivated an image as a maverick who disdains cozy Washington relationships.
Others attacked the report for muddying an investigation of lobbying by suggesting McCain had an affair with the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, without providing persuasive evidence.
Both the Republican Party and McCain's campaign used the story in e-mail solicitations for contributions. Calling the story "scurrilous" and "a sleazy smear attack," campaign manager Rick Davis said McCain needed donations to "defend our nominee from the liberal attack machine."
Conservative commentators, including some who previously chastised McCain for not hewing closely to their principles, leaped to the candidate's defence.
Radio personality Laura Ingraham, like other critics, noted the newspaper had been researching the story for several months and accused the Times of delaying publication to do maximum damage.
"You wait until it's pretty much beyond a doubt that he's going to be the Republican nominee," Ingraham said on her morning radio programme, "and then you let it drop - drop some acid in the pool, contaminate the whole pool. That's what The New York Times thinks."
Talk show host Rush Limbaugh described the story as standard fare for the paper he describes as coddling the left.
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