THE SHEEPISH RETURN TO THE FOLD:

The End of the Republican Split (Steve Chapman, 2/24/08, REAL CLEAR POLITICS)

Those who had been angered by McCain's gentle treatment by liberal journalists were angered to see him handled roughly by the same scribes. They quit attacking McCain and began blasting The New York Times, which had given them plenty of ammunition. Note to the Times: When Sean Hannity sounds like the voice of responsible journalism, you've done something wrong.

And with that, the great Republican civil war was pretty much over.

Any pretext would have sufficed, but banding together against the Times made their falling back into line even easier.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 24, 2008 8:03 AM