Partisans and piranhas rally the conservative base

By Lee Bandy
SouthCarolina Insider

(2/25/08) The New York Times may have done John McCain and the Republican Party a favor by publishing an article suggesting the senator was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a female lobbyist.

The story ignited a fierce controversy, not just about the senator but about the newspaper’s conduct as well.

The article, quoting anonymous sources, sparked a political firestorm. Some 2,000 persons fired off e-mails to the Times, accusing the paper of engaging in politically motivated sensationalism.

Some critics said the story was nothing but unsubstantiated gossip and never should have been published.

And most importantly from the Arizona senators’ viewpoint, the article rallied conservatives to his side. Many had been critical of his campaign and association with liberals.

The Times received a lot of flak for publishing what many thought was a highly damaging story for McCain.

Moments after the article was filed online, conservative commentators who had been ripping McCain’s White House bid, came to his defense.

Conservatives saw the article as an opportunity to rally the base. They attacked the Times story, calling it gossip and a disgrace,

The newspaper said it received over 2,000 e-mails criticizing it for publishing he story.

Mike Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee, used the occasion to raise money for the party. He sent out a fund-raising appeal via e-mail decrying the Times coverage of McCain.

“Help us to get our message past the liberal media filter,” he said.

By attacking the Times head on, McCain and Company may have put Bill Keller, the paper’s executive editor, in the position of having to defend its action and reason for publishing the story.

The ball now is in the Times court.

So far, all the Times will say is that it will make its reporters available online to answer questions of concerned readers. But it’s doubtful they will reveal the names of the unnamed sources.

In 2006, President Bush called the Times’ conduct “disgraceful.”

Conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham counseled fellow Republicans to ignore the Times.

She said the McCain episode should teach Republicans that the nation’s major newspapers like the Times are run by “partisans” and “piranhas.”