The NYT

I am not sure what to think of this. It strikes me as odd that the editor would expect McCain to write a piece that "mirrors Senator Obama's". Why would he?

New York Times rejects McCain editorial
Posted: 01:26 PM ET

The New York Times rejected an editorial written by John McCain.
(CNN) — The New York Times has rejected an editorial written by John McCain defending his Iraq war policy in response to a piece by Barack Obama published in the paper last week.

Read the rejected op-ed

In an e-mail to the McCain campaign, Opinion Page Editor David Shipley said he could not accept the piece as written, but would be “pleased, though, to look at another draft.”

“Let me suggest an approach,” he wrote. “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.”

McCain’s rejected op-ed had been a lengthy critique of Obama’s positions on Iraq policy, particularly his view of the surge. “Senator Obama seems to have learned nothing from recent history,” wrote McCain, criticizing Obama’s call for an early withdrawal timeline. “I find it ironic that he is emulating the worst mistake of the Bush administration by waving the ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner prematurely.”

Obama’s July 14 essay had taken shots at McCain for not further encouraging the Iraqi government to take control of the country.

"Instead of seizing the moment and encouraging Iraqis to step up, the Bush administration and Senator McCain are refusing to embrace this transition — despite their previous commitments to respect the will of Iraq’s sovereign government,” Obama wrote in his op-ed. “They call any timetable for the removal of American troops ‘surrender,’ even though we would be turning Iraq over to a sovereign Iraqi government."

Shipley had advised the McCain campaign that “the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq. It would also have to lay out a clear plan for achieving victory — with troops levels, timetables and measures for compelling the Iraqis to cooperate. And it would need to describe the Senator's Afghanistan strategy, spelling out how it meshes with his Iraq plan.” He added that he hoped the parties could “find a way to bring this to a happy resolution.”

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Monday the Arizona senator's position will not change based on the "demands of the New York Times."

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

Shipley served as a senior speechwriter in the Clinton administration.

The Times has not yet responded to a CNN request for comment.