The John McCain lobbyist scandal continues to unfold today. Some claim the NY Times published that unflattering, sensational lobbyist story for political purposes.

The implicit suggestion is that the Times wanted to take out the Republican's wobbly conservative support. These predictions, however, may have fallen flat.

While certainly many conservatives still have issues with McCain, the Times piece could potentially become a rallying cry for McCain. Because, you know, they have a common enemy in The New York Times, which wants nothing more than to introduce communism in our schools and abolish Christianity.

The New York Times report could boost his standing with conservatives, an important and vociferous group who reject McCain's sometimes moderate policies but regard the newspaper as an enemy of the Republican Party.

Some of the Arizona senator's most ardent conservative critics, including Sean Hannity of Fox, rallied to him after the Times report, taking issue with its sourcing and veracity.

Some, like talk show host Rush Limbaugh and commentator Laura Ingraham, while hardly softening toward McCain, made the issue the newspaper's behavior, not that of the senator.

"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," Limbaugh said.

We agree entirely – no, not with Limbaugh, but with the fact that this development could hurt McCain, who, again, the paper endorsed.

What's most interesting about this situation, however, is the fact that both the Times and the backlash turn McCain into an object, removed from the facts and the unfolding of this story. He's become less of a candidate and more of a pawn, never a good thing for someone who hopes to become President. McCain needs to start making new headlines or this thing could dwarf his entire candidacy. We don't think that would end his campaign, but it's not a good launching pad for a national effort.