In a tartly worded column this week, Washington Post writer Dana Milbank bemoans the conservative “cannibalizing…of Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bob Bennett of Utah.”  He runs through the American Conservative Union (ACU) ratings for historical Republican leaders, compares them to Murkowski and Bennett, and finds that the latter two are just as conservative as Bob Dole, Gerald Ford, and others.  He concludes that Murkowski and Bennett were “purged” this year because they were not conservative enough for today’s Grand Old Party.  Millbank concludes, “In my book, they’re all ‘faithful conservatives.’ But I’m old-fashioned.”

Milbank has placed me in an awkward position, for I agree with his thesis but I totally disagree with his tone.  His data are also problematic, as he has conflated anti-incumbent sentiment with anti-moderate sentiment.  Anti-incumbent sentiment helps explain much of what has happened to Republicans (and to Democrats like Alan Mollohan and Arlen Specter) this cycle.