Is The NY Times Trying to Sink McCain?

LAST WEEK, the New York Times ran a story about Republican presidential candidate John McCain's connections to lobbying firms.

McCain has spent a great deal of his Senate tenure trying to rally Congress from relying so much on lobby groups and their potential ills.

But the Times story story went one step farther. They hinted the McCain, a married man, had an affair with lobbyist.

"A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate jet," the Times wrote. "Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself — instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him."

McCain, his aids and the lobbyist all denied rumors of an affair.

Was it fair for the Times to report the rumor? Does it matter to the public?

Is this good, investigative journalism or a partisan witch hunt?