Cindy McCain

(Newser) - Backlash against the New York Times reporter who contacted minors on Facebook to locate sources has led Times public editor Clark Hoyt to declare, “I would not have sent the messages.” Jodi Kantor, author of last month’s unflattering front-page profile of Cindy McCain, reached out to classmates of McCain's daughter to find parents who knew McCain. Her efforts were labeled by some as “disgusting.” More »

(Newser) - The National Enquirer says it has caught Cindy McCain “passionately” locking lips with a long-haired, “washed-up ‘80s rock musician” type. The tabloid revealed its “world exclusive” spy photos—admittedly grainy—of the pair at a 2006 music festival in Phoenix. A Huffington Post reader shed doubt on the allegation, pointing out that McCain was in Kosovo during the concert. More »

(Newser) - That the GOP dressed up “a no-frills hockey mom” for her star turn is fine, but that they dressed her up in Neiman's, Saks, and Barneys is “mind-boggling evidence of a tin ear for the symbolism of popular culture,” style maven Robin Givhan wails in the Washington Post . It doesn’t take much fashion knowledge to know a $10,000 handbag represents “exclusivity, success, and classiness”—not Jane Six-Pack. More »

(Newser) - The McCain campaign and the New York Times are at it again after the paper published a partly unflattering profile of Cindy McCain today, Lynn Sweet reports for the Chicago Sun-Times . Mrs. McCain’s lawyer fired off an angry letter at the Times , asking why it drudged up old stories on Cindy's drug use and charitable life. "You have not tried to find Barack Obama's drug dealer that he wrote about in his book," he wrote. “There is a terrific lack of balance here." More »

(Newser) - Cindy McCain is giving her all to get her husband into the White House despite the tough time the capital has given her in the past, the New York Times reports. When she moved there early in her marriage, the young political wife found herself ostracized by cliquey congressional wives outraged that McCain had dumped the popular Carol McCain for a younger, richer woman. More »

(Newser) - Verizon and AT&T provided portable cell phone towers to John McCain's Arizona ranch free of charge soon after he launched his presidential bid, the Washington Post reports. The companies say it's a unique situation—a modern candidate has to be plugged in, after all—but ethics lawyers say it's questionable because McCain is chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the FCC and the telecom industry. More »