McCain Should Reject the NYT Endorsement

Jerry Bowyer e-mailed me this morning with a terrific suggestion: Sen. McCain should reject the endorsement of the New York Times. When Steve Moore called me to say Romney did well in the debate last night, he agreed with the idea. Moore said it would generate a great positive controversy.

In my view, rejecting the editorial would underscore Sen. McCain’s efforts to reinforce his bona-fides to Republicans and conservatives.

Remember, Florida is a GOP primary. There are no independents this time. So there are a host of reasons why a McCain rejection of the Times would appeal to Republicans in this crucial primary. It was the Times that ran the despicable MoveOn.org ad (at a reduced rate no less) about Gen. Petraeus allegedly betraying America in the Iraq surge. It was the Times that leaked the foreign wiretapping and surveillance story that helped our enemies.

Of course, the New York Times has always been against the Iraq war and the successful counter-insurgency troop surge. And the Times is always against pro-growth tax cuts.

If Sen. McCain would stand up and say all this, it would cause a stir. But for him, in the fight of his life down in Florida, it’d be a good stir.