New York Times Rejects McCain Opinion Essay

The McCain campaign had submitted the article to The Times in response to a piece by Obama published by the paper last week.

Opinion Page Editor David Shipley sent an email to the McCain campaign and said he would be "pleased, though, to look at another draft."

"Let me suggest an approach," he wrote Friday. "The Obama piece worked for me because it offered new information (it appeared before his speech); while Senator Obama discussed Senator McCain, he also went into detail about his own plans. It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece."

Obama submitted an Op-ed titled "My Plan for Iraq" which detailed his plans of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq in 16 months if elected president.

The McCain campaign expressed dismay at the Times' decision and suspected it was because the paper did not agree with McCain's policy.

"John McCain believes that victory in Iraq must be based on conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables. Unlike Barack Obama, that position will not change based on politics or the demands of The New York Times," said McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds.