Conservatives Rallying – At Least Against The Times

Mitt Romney used the New York Times' endorsement of John McCain last month as proof that the Arizona Senator was not a true conservative. Now that the paper has published it's controversial story about his alleged relationship with a Washington lobbyist, it may be the push conservatives need to convince them he is. Or at the very least, begin the healing.

In his opening comments on his nationally syndicated radio show today Rush Limbaugh, a fierce McCain critic throughout the primaries, claimed vindication. Limbaugh noted he had long predicted that the media, who McCain has had an exceptionally close relationship to, would "turn" on him if he won the nomination. Limbaugh did not embrace McCain but offered that the episode offers an educational opportunity for the senator.

"They are what they are," Limbaugh said of the paper. "A snake is a snake, a tiger is a tiger, the New York Times is the New York Times … the important question for John McCain today is, is he going to learn the right lesson from this? And what is the lesson? The lesson is, liberals are to be defeated. You cannot walk across the aisle with them, you cannot reach across the aisle, you cannot welcome their media members on your bus and get all cozy with them and expect eternal love from them. You are a Republican. Whether you are a conservative Republican or not, you are a Republican. And at some point, the people you cozy up to … are going to turn on you. … And if the right lesson is not learned from this, it will have proved to be of no value."

Talk-show host Laura Ingraham, another McCain critic, likewise did not race to offer a defense of McCain but blamed the Times of hit-and-run-journalism. "You wait until it's pretty much beyond a doubt that he's going to be the Republican nominee, and then you let it drop — drop some acid in the pool, contaminate the whole pool. That's what The New York Times thinks," Igraham said according to a report in the Politico.

Conservative talker Sean Hannity tolde viewers of his television show last night that the story was not believable. "I have read this New York Times piece now three times," Hannity said according to Politico. "And what I see here is nothing but innuendo, rumor. They want the reader to draw conclusions."

And GOP consultant Greg Mueller tells CBSNews.com that this will only help McCain among conservatives. "It was a poor and revealing attempt by the New York Times to try and smear McCain at a time when he is starting to define Obama as an inexperienced liberal, so the New York Times takes up for Obama's defense," Mueller said in an e-mail. "If anything, this helps energize conservatives to come to McCain's aide in beating back attacks by The New York Times and other liberal media outlets."