…The Washington Post. While political analysts will be picking apart tonight’s race for days to come, it’s worth noting that Bob McDonnell’s victory in the Virginia governor’s race is also a media story.
It’s one thing for a newspaper to exhibit a certain political viewpoint — that’s to be expected. But the Post’s shameless harping on the next Virginia governor’s decades-old college thesis as proof that he was a secret misogynist was beyond the pale. Perhaps Post felt emboldened by their success at smearing George Allen in his race Senate against Jim Webb, where the paper hammered the dubious assertion that Allen used a bizarre racial slur. In fact, in September the Examiner’s Michael Barone wondered, “Is the Washington Post trying to ‘Macaca’ Bob McDonnell?” After the Democrat’s victory, Webb was often referred to in the blogosphere as Sen. Jim Webb, D-Washington Post.
But with McDonnell’s resounding win tonight, perhaps the Post will think twice about putting it’s credibility on the line before they decide to become the opposition research arm of Virginia Democrats. But don’t bet on it.
