The Matt Drudge primary

How professional political operatives secretly control the news you read about the 2008 campaign. Hint: It involves the Drudge Report.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected since it was originally published.

By Michael Scherer
May 14, 2007 | WASHINGTON -- John McCain's "Bomb Iran" scandal almost never happened.

The reporters covering the Murrells Inlet, S.C., rally last month, where McCain jokingly parodied the old Beach Boys song "Barbara Ann" with the words "Bomb Iran," didn't think the joke was news. Only one writer, Scott Harper, from the local Georgetown Times, mentioned it in his story, and he relegated it to the 17th paragraph. "I didn't think Jay Leno would be talking about it," he said.