The McCain campaign said the paper had engaged in a "hit and run smear campaign" in a lengthy report published on its Web site. McCain, an Arizona senator who has long promoted high ethical standards among lawmakers, is all but certain to be the Republican candidate in the November 4 presidential election.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The New York Times said on Wednesday that Republican presidential hopeful John McCain had a close relationship with a lobbyist nine years ago in a potential conflict with his high ethical stances, but McCain's campaign sharply dismissed the report.
The McCain campaign said the paper had engaged in a "hit and run smear campaign" in a lengthy report published on its Web site. McCain, an Arizona senator who has long promoted high ethical standards among lawmakers, is all but certain to be the Republican candidate in the November 4 presidential election.
"He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the issues at stake in this election," the campaign said in a statement issued by its communications director, Jill Hazelbaker.
"Americans are sick and tired of this kind of gutter politics, and there is nothing in this story to suggest that John McCain has ever violated the principles that have guided his career."
!ADVERTISEMENT!In its report, the Times cited instances where it said McCain had appeared to undermine his own demands for high ethical behavior from members of Congress.
The paper focused on what it said was a close relationship with a telecommunications lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, saying that early in McCain's failed bid for the 2000 presidential election, members of his campaign had grown concerned the relationship might harm the campaign.
"Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself -- instructing staff members to block the woman's access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity," the Times said.
DENIALS
The paper said both McCain and Iseman had denied any romantic relationship. McCain told the Times also that he never showed favoritism to Iseman or her clients.
"But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity," the paper said.
The paper's report was likely to ignite a fierce response from supporters as McCain, a Vietnam War hero, presses ahead with this campaign on a platform of high ethical standards.
"It is a shame that the New York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit and run smear campaign. John McCain has a 24-year record of serving our country with honor and integrity," the McCain campaign said in its statement.
The New York Times has published prominent pieces on other leading candidates in the race for the presidency.
They included a long piece earlier this month about the occasional use of drugs by Democrat Barack Obama when he was a student, which Obama had himself detailed in a memoir. The paper last year ran a lengthy article about the state of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's relationship with her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
McCain was asked about the Times story by reporters at the airport in Toledo, Ohio, after returning from campaign events in Illinois. "I haven't seen it yet, so I can't comment," he said.
(Writing by Frances Kerry, Editing by Howard Goller)
