Attention Republican Officeholders: Avoid this story at all costs

Guest Post by Citizen Seeker

“Lindsey Graham is all 5-foot-7 with his shoes on, but these days he towers above his Senate colleagues.” – Dana Milbank, Washington Post, after Graham’s vote in favor of Elena Kagan

If you are a Republican officeholder in the current environment and the above words are written about you, prepare for a career beyond politics. It’s over.

Very little is so damning for any politician as exalting praise from committed partisan enemies for selling out your own team – and few things are considered as unforgivable by either party’s base. With our own base completely out of patience these days, Republican officeholders need to understand that while they are still at liberty to take their 30 pieces of silver, their careers will not long survive the exchange.

Looking ahead to 2011, when the Washington Post‘s editors are making endorsement decisions in over 100 local and state races in Northern Virginia, this is a lesson worth bearing in mind locally, too.

While the Post occassionally endorses a Republican because they are thoroughly embarassed by the Democrat and there are some districts where a Post endorsement can be a benefit, it is worth remembering that praise from the Washington Post is as often poisonous. With the WaPo’s already tarnished reputation suffering further under Weigelgate, the New Black Panther story, the JournoList story, and others, the ideal outcome for a Republican may well be the one achieved by Ken Cuccinelli in 2007: the Post was too embarassed by Oleszek to endorse her, but could hardly bring itself to endorse a man who presented such a legitimate and unwavering threat to their agenda.

Oscar Wilde once wrote that “you can judge a man by the quality of his enemies”. The nakedly partisan Washington Post is as worthy as an enemy can get for any Republican – and your own friends and supporters make for poor substitutes.