McCain Continues to Prosper Thanks to the New York Times
INDIANAPOLIS — Senator John McCain declared the battle over on Friday morning, but by then his lieutenants believed he had already won the war.
Conservative radio talk show hosts who had long reviled Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential candidate from Arizona, had rallied to his defense. Bloggers on the right said that this could be the start of a new relationship. Most telling, Mr. McCain’s campaign announced Friday afternoon that it had just recorded its single-best 24 hours in online fund-raising, although it declined to provide numbers.
Conservatives, we’ve been had. Well, most of us anyhow. Dig this anecdote from Megan McArdle, guesting over at Instapundit:
As longtime readers of the blog know, I’m related to the Swing Voter, aka my mother. Her vote is an infallible indicator of who will win the general election. We had dinner last night, and somewhat to my surprise, The Swing Voter is completely outraged by the New York Times story–she vows to no longer take the Times, nay, not even for the Sunday crossword. She is also now thinking seriously about voting for McCain just to spite the New York Times.
I asked a couple days ago, based on a few e-mails received by Kathryn Lopez and the rallying of talk radio to McCain’s banner, if the New York Times had done Johnny Mac a favor. I’m even more sure of the answer today.
I can’t see a single downside of this story for McCain. He’s been able to come out full of righteous scolding against the MSM Goliath and, quite frankly, the Times’ defense of their story has been weak as a baby kitten. He’s turned on the fund raising and brought in bathtubs full of cash. He’s gotten himself plenty of sympathetic media coverage. The righty blogs are lining up to take swings in his defense. I wouldn’t be surprised to see all his poll numbers jumping up a lot at the end of the week.
And all that because the Times decided, as if my some magical coincidence, to publish their tabloid special just when he needed it most.
That was no coincidence and I’m wondering when my conservative brethren will figure it out.
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Category: Oh, THAT liberal media., The 2008 Horse Race
I guess this is "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"?
I didn't even have to try to figure out if the Times was secretly trying to help McCain or whatever. The Times is sleazy & opportunistic….and so is McCain. If they write a story about him that is beneath contempt, does that make McCain any less contemptible? No!
And conservatives should know better. The battle with the Times is practically over. The only influence they have is among hard core lefties anyway. The battle with McCain has only just begun. And no matter how much support conservatives give McCain now, he craves the NYT's affections like hookers crave crack. And he will jump back into bed with them in a heartbeat since they side with him on all issues immigration, torture & denying free speech to average citizens.