Letters to the Editor
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Herd mentality and fear
McCain reminds me of the big bully with the really bad temper that nobody wants to offend because they fear his wrath. So they all give him a pass and act as his cheerleaders instead, even playing apologist when he does something wrong (e.g. Gaffe on something you're supposed to be an expert on). Better to have the bully on your side than get called out in front of the gang and made a fool/example of by the leader, after at, that would be all your fault for pissing off the gang leader.
Like managers who intimidate their employees to the point where they won't question decisions out of nothing but fear. It isn't because they deeply respect said Manager or like him or her, but because they don't want to be yelled at or embarassed in front of other staff (or at all). Nobody likes to be made a fool of, so they give into their fears and play along with the game. And who knows, maybe after a while they feel that the game really is reality and that their negative nancy attitude was based on "profound distortions of reality" (kind of like the profound distortions of reality that lead one to believe that blowback from Palestine had nothing to do with 9/11).
Of course, that isn't supposed to be the role of the press, but that is how it acts. It is also how Bush operates, subtle disses to the self-esteem in order to let you know just who the decider and the follower really are. The politician is the bully/boss, and questioning the decisions of the decider gets you knocked down a few pegs on the sycophant ladder (i.e. Career Advancement) through public scalding as well as making you look like you are anything but serious (pissing off the bosses and their clients, how dare you! He might remember that you were with us and not let us on the bus!) and don't know what you are talking about.
You look like a trouble maker and who knows, maybe after the public scalding you'll learn to stop worrying and love the warmonger. You may not like the guy, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Kind of like how Obama winks and nods at AIPAC and its foreign policy views while in the context of "condemning Wright", but yet his supporters say that almost everything Wright has said is true, and you just "do what you gotta do" when it comes to Israel.
The reporters "do what they gotta do", i.e. don't piss off Grumpy Old Man McCain and go ruining everyone's nice little propaganda press conference.