It is becoming widespread consensus that John McCain has not only weathered the pathetic hit piece by the New York Times, he is triumphing over it! Just listening to the various cable news channels, and sampling opinion from the blogosphere, that is the clear impression from all quarters. Jonathan Martin and Mike Allen of Politico.com, set forth the basic consensus:

Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign claimed vindication Thursday night after a sophisticated 24-hour counterattack turned a potentially lethal story in The New York Times into a conservative call to arms.

The piece about McCain’s friendly relations with a telecommunications lobbyist—long-discussed in political circles and planned for weeks by McCain operatives—was the first test of his ability to confront a public-relations crisis since becoming the GOP’s presumptive nominee.

But the reaction may have said as much about the mindset of the conservative movement on the brink of the general election as it did about McCain and his team.

“Even if they want to quibble within our own tribe, they’ll circle the wagons when we’re attacked by the Times,” said McCain campaign senior adviser Charlie Black. . . .

“For conservatives, the New York Times is shorthand for everything they distrust,” said John Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College and former Republican operative.

It was a vivid illustration of the power of the longstanding anti-media grievance among conservatives. In the past, McCain’s cozy relationships with establishment journalists (“My base,” as he sometimes jokes) has been a major reason the Arizona senator is viewed with such jaundiced eyes by many on the right. McCain was able to leverage these feelings to turn a potentially devastating story into something that arguably lifts his political standing.

“We feel that the story has been met with widespread condemnation,” said Jill Hazelbaker, the campaign communications director. “We faced our first crisis of the general election, we handled it and we’ll try to move past it tomorrow.”