He can and he will. The MSM is there to carry his water to "debunk" any charges against him and "discredit" his critics. Obviously he will lose the votes of anyone who realizes the truth, but that's a calculated loss. The critical swing voters want a cool tough guy who stands up against "unfair" attacks against him. So far he is playing that role pretty well.
Only to get pummelled by body blows from the blogsphere. The MSM is facing a choice this election - tell at least part of the story, or stand by yet another Dem liar and have what is left of their credibility completely obliterated. I am sensing from at least part of the MSM a hesitation to go the latter route, for a candidate that they are now realizing simply isn't fit for the office and who holds no core views worthy of supporting, who is in it only for his own ego and his own power (sound familiar?)
What the MSM is now doing is exploring just how much lying they can get away with, after their initial formulatic damage control was savaged.
It's disgusting, isn't it? It must be nice to have the media do your dirty work for you. I noticed that Dole told Kerry in their phone conversation about how Kerry had the media on his side, but oddly enough, the comment never made any of the stories about the phone conversation!