NYT saves McCain?

From Megan McArdle:

As longtime readers of the blog know, I'm related to the Swing Voter, aka my mother. Her vote is an infallible indicator of who will win the general election. We had dinner last night, and somewhat to my surprise, The Swing Voter is completely outraged by the New York Times story--she vows to no longer take the Times, nay, not even for the Sunday crossword. She is also now thinking seriously about voting for McCain just to spite the New York Times.

I'll almost certainly vote for McCain come November so the Times didn't really change my vote at all. I was surprised at how angry I was by the story, though. It's so clearly a hit piece and a slimy one at that. Can't help but think that this is exactly the sort of thing that will help doubtful conservatives off the fence.
Look, we expect the NYT to tilt towards the left. We expect that their reporters will see things through a liberal prism. We also expect that they will act professionally and stay above naked muckraking. When they don't even play by their own (sanctimoniously held) rules, it just stokes the fires.