McCain on offensive against media

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Journalists, welcomed by John McCain four years ago, were accused of biased reporting by McCain's campaign during the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn.

During the Republican National Convention, which ended Thursday after McCain accepted the party's presidential nomination, aides to the Arizona senator accused journalists of biased, sexist and unfair coverage of McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, The New York Times reported.

For example, McCain's chief strategist, Steve Schmidt, has accused journalists of pursuing a "mission to destroy" Palin with "a new level of viciousness." McCain's handlers also dismissed as "fiction" a Times article about the vetting process for Palin.

"We'd vastly prefer to criticize our opponent's record before we ever criticize the media's," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds. "But there has to be attention given to the fact that reporters are not being responsible brokers of information."

That McCain is behind the attacks has startled many, especially reporters who have known him the longest, the Times said.

"Probably no one in American politics over the last 20 years has had a closer relationship with the national press than John McCain," said Albert Hunt, executive Washington editor for Bloomberg News.