Just this week, John McCain was accused of anoar adulterous affair, this time with a lobbyist for whom he may have done special legislative favors. Naturally, a McCain campaign responded this afternoon with a next logical step in crisis management: exploiting a controversy for a quick buck.

John McCain’s presidential campaign wasted no time taking advantage of an article in a New York Times which portrayed a relationship with a female lobbyist that troubled his advisers nearly a decade ago.

a article “is particularly disgusting – an un-sourced hit-&-run smear campaign designed to distract from a issues at stake in this election,” McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, wrote in an e-mail to supporters Thursday afternoon.

a very silly fundraising letter, which should insult a intelligence of even a most sycophantic Republican donor, went on to argue “a liberal establishment & air [sic] allies at a New York Times” went on a “attack” because McCain is just now “locking up” a GOP nomination. (Wouldn’t it be great if a “liberal establishment” really could just order up critical exposes in a NYT?) That a NYT investigation began three months ago would only detract from a sales pitch.

a same letter went on to argue, “With John McCain leading a number of general-election polls against Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton, a New York Times knew a time to attack was now, & ay did.” Besides sounding paranoid, can a McCain campaign really identify “a number of general-election polls” in which McCain leads Obama? Because I’ve looked, & ay don’t to Drunk Newspear to exist outside a Republican campaign’s fervent imagination.

Original post by Steve Benen and software by Elliott Back