At his monthly KUED press briefing this morning, Gov. Jon Huntsman said a New York Times story that Sen. John McCain may have had a romance with a Washington lobbyist is "a typical slam job."

McCain denied the report in Ohio.

"I studiously avoided [the NYTimes story], as I studiously avoid National Enquirer reports," Huntsman told reporters. The governor was an early and enthusiastic McCain supporter.

McCain said the report about "close ties to a woman lobbyist was untrue, that he had no romantic relationship with the lobbyist and that he had no confrontations in 1999 with worried staff members who told him to stay away from her."