The problem with the NYT so often is that they won't call it like they see it.
The whole meme that the GOP establishment badly wants to beat Obama is true. They want to beat him up. They don't want to win more than they want to beat him. If they wanted to win, a guy like Romney or Huntsman would have been carrying big majorities in the polls leading up to the primaries. Instead, the latest candidate to throw the biggest bombs has surged into the lead each time. Now that the alternatives are milquetoast-might-win Romney and the Attack Newt, who do you think they prefer?
They want red meat. They want anger. And they want these things more than they want to win.
This is such a basic, simple observation about the GOP electorate right now that the presumed paper of record is scared to make because it might get called "biased" that it is continuing to render itself irrelevant.
They even go to the lengths of feigning confusion over South Carolina voters thinking Newt is "electable." They don't mean "everyone will like him." They mean "he will bring holy vengeance upon Obama." Why is this so hard for the so called liberal media to understand? Why are they so wedded to portraying angry voters as angels? Why are the minority of people who live in empty spaces considered "real Americans" and the rest of us who live among our fellow citizens not?