McCain betrayed by media base that backed him

Politico:

Conservative media outlets rushed with surprising vehemence to defend Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday against a critical article in The New York Times, embracing a maverick they have often attacked.

Rush Limbaugh calls it "the drive-by media ... trying to take him out."

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Ironically, one of the worst articles ever written about McCain may help bond him to conservatives because they now have a common enemy: The New York Times.

Limbaugh wrote in an e-mail to Politico: “The story is not the story. The story is the Drive By media turning on its favorite maverick and trying to take him out. The media picked the GOP's candidate, the NYT endorsed him while they sat on this story, and is now, with utter predictability, trying to destroy him.”

Limbaugh added: “This is what you get when you walk across the aisle and try to make these people your friends. I'm not surprised in the least that the NYT would try to take out John McCain. Predicted this, in fact, way back in the early 2000s. Sen. McCain courted the media, cultivated them, even bragged that the media was his ‘base.’ I cringed when I heard it because the media turning on McCain was as predictable as the sun rising in the morning.”

Limbaugh was one of several influential conservatives who, to the delight and relief of the McCain campaign, immediately decided that the behavior of the Times — not the senator — should be the issue.

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Ingraham asked triumphantly; “I ask the McCain campaign this question: Do you think you need talk radio NOW? Do you think that talk radio’s important to set the record straight, or do you think a press conference, where the media is shouting question after question at you — do you think THAT’S going to put an end to all of this?”

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Ingraham called it “one of the more ridiculous pieces I have read in some time,” and specifically took up for McCain by pointing out that he had voted against the interests of the lobbyist’s client.

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When you make friends with a snake it is important to remember that it is still a snake. I listened to Bob Bennett this morning on the Laura Ingraham show and he described an abundance of evidence refuting the Times charges that was presented to them before the story was printed.

What the times is engaging in is an old Democrat campaign practice. They throw a skunk in the room and stand back to watch the reaction rather than putting the facts in perspective to begin with. There is a lesson for Republicans in this. Never expect a break from the liberal media when it comes to election politics.

Byron York has a discussion of some of the NY Times failures to disclose.