NY Times rejects McCain rebuttal to Obama's "My Plan for Iraq" Op-Ed piece.

David Shipley, the NY Times Op-Ed editor and former Special Assistant to President Clinton and Senior Presidential Speechwriter, explained his decision by stating:

'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece,' NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley explained in an email late Friday to McCain's staff. 'I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written.'

and

'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.'

Shipley continues: 'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece. To that end, the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq.'

Obama said something new in his op-ed piece? Really I didn't see it. It's the same withdrawal plan that has been on his website for months. And what exactly is Obama's definition of victory? Or does he not need to provide one because his plan inherently leads to and has already accepted defeat?

The Drudge Report has the text of McCain's piece as submitted and it is essentially a point by point rebuttal of Obama's piece. I know the Times has published rebuttals before, why not this time?

On the other hand maybe they have done McCain a favor, the piece he submitted lacks punch. This may be a chance to clean it up and really land a blow.