Reporting
: Instapundit sent around email on the case of the mysterious, oft-quoted Republican/independent. I emailed the man to see which he was. Campaign Desk, to their credit, actually picked up the phone to call him. The results:
Will the real George Meagher please stand up? As it happens, he will; Campaign Desk called George, and he was happy to talk. He is an independent, he says, and has “never been a Republican” because he dislikes “labels.”
[NYTimes reporter] Rosenthal admits she made a mistake, citing Meagher’s involvement in Bush’s 2000 campaign (which she mentioned in her Sunday piece) as the root of her confusion. She says that the two different quotes were pulled from the same interview, conducted during the run-up to the South Carolina primary. Meagher says he can’t remember exactly what he said nearly a month ago, but he confirms he was interviewed just once.
A correction has already been written, and will be printed in tomorrow’s Times.
