WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain adamantly denied yesterday having had an affair nine years ago with a Washington lobbyist, and his presidential campaign sought to use the furor over the insinuation of one in a New York Times article to shore up his standing with conservatives and raise campaign cash.
McCain advisers worked furiously to turn the spotlight on the Times, denouncing the article as "shameless," "a total fabrication," "nonsense" and "a smear" by "the biggest liberal newspaper in America."-
By midafternoon, the Arizona Republican's campaign had e-mailed a fundraising appeal declaring that McCain was under attack by "the liberal establishment and their allies at The New York Times."
McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, said he considered the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, a friend like many others in the lobbying community, but that he had not had a romantic relationship with the then-31-year-old lobbyist, nor had he taken any positions specifically to benefit her clients.
"I'm very disappointed in the New York Times piece. It's not true," said McCain, who appeared with his wife, Cindy, at a news conference in Toledo, Ohio, where he was campaigning.
Iseman could not be reached for comment. She denied having had an affair with McCain, according to the Times.
The Times article did not directly assert a romantic relationship between McCain and Iseman, but quoted anonymous staff members as expressing concern that one might be developing.
A similar article by The Washington Post, posted hours after the Times' report was released, described a friendship between Iseman and McCain, but did not suggest an affair.
The articles have been sharply criticized by some journalistic observers because they rely on unnamed sources to suggest the possibility of an illicit relationship. Time magazine's managing editor, Rick Stengel, told MSNBC that he wouldn't have run the story.
Both articles included statements by John Weaver, formerly a top McCain strategist, that he met Iseman to warn her to stay away from his boss, who was gearing up to seek the 2000 Republican presidential nomination as a critic of cozy relationships between special interests and lawmakers.
"Her comments, which had gotten back to some of us, that she had strong ties to the Commerce Committee [chaired by McCain] and his staff were wrong and harmful and I so informed her and asked her to stop with these comments and to not be involved in the campaign. Nothing more and nothing less," Weaver said in an e-mailed response to questions late yesterday from the Chicago Tribune.
