McCain's Ties To Lobbyist Worried Aides  —  Aides to Sen. John McCain confronted a telecommunications lobbyist in late 1999 and asked her to distance herself from the senator during the presidential campaign he was about to launch, according to one of McCain's longest-serving political strategists.

THE MCCAIN STORY  —  This afternoon, before the Times story came out, I was working on a post about national political reporters' tendency not to give much of any scrutiny to various McCain flipflops, contradictions and bamboozlements.  Obviously, the terrain has changed a bit since …

Slimes At The Times  —  The New York Times launches its long-awaited smear of John McCain today, and the most impressive aspect of the smear is just how baseless it is.  They basically emulate Page Six at the Post, but add in a rehash of a well-known scandal from twenty years ago to pad it out and make it look more impressive.

Bonus TNR Angle on the McCain Story  —  The McCain campaign is apparently blaming TNR for forcing the Times' hand on this story.  We can't yet confirm that.  But we can say this: TNR correspondent Gabe Sherman is working on a piece about the Times' foot-dragging on the McCain story …

McCain camp vows to ‘go to war’ with NYT  —  John McCain's campaign promised to “go to war” against the New York Times Wednesday night after the newspaper posted its long-awaited story on McCain's alleged relationship with a telecom lobbyist.  Both McCain and the woman in question denied having a romantic relationship.

McCain Senior Adviser Responds to Times Story  —  Mark Salter, John McCain's obstreperous senior aide, just responded to Time's query about the New York Times's long-simmering McCain-mixed-up-with-lobbyists story.  —  Speaking from a parking garage in Toledo, where the campaign is overnighting …

Who is John McCain?  —  Here's the deal, folks: The New York Times has some damaging goods on John McCain, reportedly involving a female lobbyist.  McCain threatened legal action if the Times printed the story.  The Times backed off... for now.  But you can be sure the Times will unload on McCain if he nails down the GOP nomination.

THE TIMES UPHOLDS ITS STANDARDS  —  The New York Times smears John McCain in tomorrow's paper, accusing him of ethics violations and insinuating that he had an affair with a lobbyist.  What is most striking, though, if you actually read the story, is how thin it is.

First-Blush Reaction  —  The Times doesn't have the goods—at least from what's in the story—and shouldn't have run it.  Let's be honest: this story is all about the alleged affair, and all the Keating Five and campaign finance reform re-hash is window dressing.  A key passage: