The GOP Establishment held its collective breath on Thursday, as John McCain denied a New York Times report about a possibly improper relationship with a female lobbyist.
It was tough to figure out where this story was going, since McCain all but accused the Times of lying and the paper stood by the story.
Let's just get this out first - if it is shown that McCain did have an affair with that woman, then you can probably say goodbye to his chances. There wasn't any room for middle ground in his answers.
On the other side, the Times was just as adamant. As a reporter reading between the lines of that story, it seems to me that the Times believes there was an affair, but they don't have an on-the-record way to say it and/or prove it.
Sometimes in my business, you feel like you have the goods on someone, but you just can't stitch it together fully.
When you don't put it all together properly, then things can unravel fairly quick, just see CBS and Dan Rather on the George W. Bush National Guard story.
The NY Times story had the odd effect of rallying some conservatives to the side of John McCain, showing they may not like McCain, but they dislike the media even more.
Galvanized into action on behalf of McCain were talk show hosts like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham, all of whom had savaged the Senator in recent weeks.
Along those lines, the Republican National Committee wasted no time using the episode as a way to raise money, sending out an email appeal entitled, "Shameless Liberal Media."
"The New York Times has proven once again that the liberal mainstream media will do whatever it takes to put Senator Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in the White House," read the email solicitation.
The McCain campaign also tried to take advantage of the story, sending out its own fundraising missive.
""We need your help to counteract the liberal establishment and fight back against The New York Times by making an immediate contribution today," wrote McCain's campaign manager.
So where does this all go? It depends on whether there is more that comes out. If no one can push the story any further, then it may just fade away. Stay tuned.
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