According to Politico's Mike Allen:
Republican who usually knows which way the wind is blowing: “It is very good for McCain, both near-term and long-term. He benefits from having it go away. You can't become POTUS if you're not the nominee. I assure you that McCain -- a man that I loathe -- is elated.”
A Democratic strategist, who has usually been right over the years, echoed the McCain source, calling it “John McCain's nightmare”: “Now, it won't ever go away. He needed the boil lanced. They'll torture him with it at every debate.”
And a neutral wise man says that while the upside is that the issue may die down, it has taken a deep toll on McCain: The anecdotes about him cussing and proclaiming himself the expert on the bill will persist, becoming viral among party activists and a symbol of McCain's ideological drift from the party.