The point of the article is pointing and laughing at people who cant make the logical leap of, "if they do it to someone else, they might do it to me.", the political uses are just the MOST obvious thing to do in this scenario.
I also think the US right is currently so hyperbolic and so inclined to politicize anything that it's hard to say with any confidence that "the scandal is using the intelligence apparatus as a political tool". Many things that would previously been framed as political disagreements are now framed around the president's total illegitimacy. Of the leading US Republican presidential candidates, majorities of their supporters believe that Obama is a Muslim who was not born in the US. [2]
[1] http://www.dailydot.com/politics/ted-cruz-abolish-irs-fair-t...
[2] http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2015/08/trump-suppor...
Members of government in general have very little expectation of privacy when it comes to their communications, to the point that it's a significant issue with Hillary Clinton's private email server that the mail is unrecoverable in some cases for auditing purposes.
lots of people propose this every year, including viable presidential candidates.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e...
Consider an analogous situation. Republicans are up in arms because [they believe] right-wing groups were targeted by the IRS for political purposes. No one is proposing that the IRS be dismantled, or that its purpose is illegitimate, but rather its improper use as a political tool of the executive branch is wrong and possibly criminal.
Similarly, I'm sure Hoekstra has not changed his tune a bit regarding NSA surveillance in general. The scandal is using the intelligence apparatus as a political tool.