'Times' Story About McCain Is Prime Fodder for Editorial Cartoonists

By: Dave Astor Many editorial cartoonists commented today on The New York Times story alleging a possible past relationship between married Republican presidential candidate John McCain and a female lobbyist 31 years his junior.

Rob Rogers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and United Media did a cartoon showing McCain saying: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman!" To which Hillary Clinton replies, "Plagiarist!" That's a double reference to her accusation that Barack Obama copied words in a recent speech and to Bill Clinton's famous denial of a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

In a similar vein, a cartoon by Rex Babin of The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee and King Features Syndicate pictures a finger-wagging McCain saying: "I did not have unethical relations with that woman!"

David Horsey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Tribune Media Services drew a cartoon showing McCain saying: "I did NOT have relations with that lobbyist, Miss Iseman!" Then the Republican adds: "I merely took $85,000 in campaign donations from her clients, wrote letters to the FCC on their behalf, and rode around in their private jet!"

Steve Breen of The San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley News Service did a cartoon picturing McCain next to an American flag saying: "Extremism of this nature must be confronted!" Was McCain talking about "terrorists"? No. The second panel shows a New York Times lobby attendant replying to McCain's extremism comment this way: "Sorry ... I can't let you upstairs without an appointment."

Robert Ariail of The State in Columbia, S.C., and United created a cartoon showing a praying Mike Huckabee -- who's badly trailing McCain in the GOP race for the White House. In the first panel, Huckabee says: "Give me a sign, Lord .. just a little sign ... anything...." In the second panel, a happy Huckabee exclaims "The Lord works in mysterious ways!" as a New York Times falls from the sky with a headline about McCain and the lobbyist.

A cartoon by Adam Zyglis of The Buffalo (N.Y.) News and the Cagle Cartoons syndicate shows a tuxedo-clad McCain telling the press: "There was NEVER any romance." In the second panel, a cringing GOP-elephant bride next to McCain says: "Tell me about it."

And Bob Gorrell of Creators Syndicate did a cartoon yesterday picturing a New York Times front page saying: "All the Anti-GOP News That Fits, We Print." (There was no mention of how that thesis fit in with the Times' early support of the GOP-initiated Iraq invasion and the paper's recent naming of conservative, GOP-friendly opinion columnist Bill Kristol.)

The seven above cartoons (as well as other drawings commenting on the Times/McCain situation) can be seen at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists' Web site.