N.Y. Times asks McCain for op-ed rewrite

NEW YORK, July 21 (UPI) -- The New York Times asked likely Republican U.S. presidential nominee John McCain to rewrite an opinion piece he submitted to the newspaper.

The McCain campaign declined to alter the piece, ABC reported.

The Arizona senator's op-ed article was a response to one his Democratic counterpart, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, had published in the New York newspaper about the Democrats' proposal to pull U.S. troops from Iraq. But the Times rejected McCain's piece, saying it wanted specifics about how he would approach the Iraq situation, ABC News reported Monday.

The rejection was first reported by The Drudge Report, ABC noted.

Times op-ed editorial page editor David Shipley wrote in an e-mail Friday night to McCain's staff he would be happy to run a piece by McCain if he addressed his points, according to a copy obtained by ABC News.

"It would be terrific to have an article from Sen. McCain that mirrors Sen. Obama's piece. To that end, the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Sen. McCain defines victory in Iraq. It would also have to lay out a clear plan for achieving victory -- with troop levels, timetables and measures for compelling the Iraqis to cooperate."

The New York Times had not yet responded to ABC's requests for comment.