The crusade against the Times, Abe, I think has two purpose–neither of which is directed at the vast majority of people (who don’t read the New York Times anyway). First, it is catnip for the base. There’s a reason why Sarah Palin, who is the base “magnet,” talks about the mainstream media, even taunting them outright at the Convention. Second, it impacts the rest of the media, in essence “working the refs.” I don’t find in my discussions with MSM reporters that they agree with the McCain camp assertions, but they do hear them and they do reflect. Moreover, they should now be very wary of accepting Times stories at face value, since it’s become obvious that the Grey Lady doesn’t fact-check its allegations against information held by the McCain camp. In short, I think it does impact other outlets’ coverage and forces those reporters to be a bit more circumspect. (I’m not talking about fanatical hosts on MSNBC–I mean real reporters who gather news.)

All that said, the McCain camp isn’t dense–at least not that dense. They have told virtually everyone who will listen the same mantra: “If the national media picks the president, we lose.” They aren’t under any misconception about their task ,which is to go over, through, and around the media filter to voters. They simply are out to embarrass the Times, pump their base, and influence other journalists along the way,