In his Wednesday brief, "Senator Says He Had Affair With An Aide," New York Times reporter David Herszenhorn let us know by the fourth word that U.S. Senator John Ensign of Nevada, the senator who confessed to the extramarital affair, is a Republican. In paragraph four, Herszenhorn poured on the salt, bringing up Ensign's former membership in Promise Keepers, a Christian ministry that promotes marriage.

Senator John Ensign, Republican of Nevada, admitted Tuesday that he had an extramarital affair with a member of his campaign staff.

Mr. Ensign led the Republicans' campaign efforts in 2008 and had recently visited Iowa, apparently contemplating a run for president in 2012.

An aide said that the consensual affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008, and that the woman worked for Mr. Ensign's campaign operation, Ensign for Senate, as well as for a conservative political action committee, Battleborn PAC, from December 2006 to May 2008. Mr. Ensign is honorary chairman of the PAC. The woman's husband was a member of Mr. Ensign's official Senate staff. Neither has worked for the senator since May 2008, the aide said.

Mr. Ensign, 51, is married and has three children. He and his wife, Darlene, were active for a time in Promise Keepers, a Christian evangelical ministry that promotes strong families and marriages.

The Times is not nearly as eager to label misbehaving Democrats with their party identification. The print version of a March 2009 article about liberal Sen. Chris Dodd's ethical woes completely left out his Democratic party identification. In 2008 the paper did the same favor to Dodd and fellow Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota.

—Clay Waters is the director of Times Watch, an MRC project tracking the New York Times.