There was a time when the worst thing one Republican could say
about another was that he was aligned with "the Eastern
Establishment," a "Rockefeller Republican." A few years later,
accusing your GOP rival of favoring detente with the Soviets was
the favorite submarine tactic.
Now? If you really want to undercut a Republican antagonist's
conservative credibility, accuse him of spreading dirt about
Sarah Palin, as
Marc Ambinder notes:
Rumor: Aides and advisers to Mitt Romney are responsible for
spreading most of the anti-Palin stories that have been going
around; during the campaign, they pressured reporters to look
into reports of tension between McCain and Palin factions. . .
.
Palin is the most popular figure in the Republican Party right
now, and if you want a future in that party, you can't be seen as
spreading gossip about her.
The rumors are mostly false, Ambinder says, but this raises the
question of who's spreading this smear? My guess: The McCain
aides who bashed Palin are now the ones trying to hang the blame
on the Romneyites.
So it's like
Tessio proposing a meeting with Barzini: Any McCain aide
blaming Romney thereby becomes identified as an anti-Palin
traitor.
Applying to this situation the logic of Sherlock Holmes and the
dog who did not bark, therefore, I observe that
Nicolle Wallace has reportedly denied being the anti-Palin
leaker and ask: Did Nicolle Wallace ever say anything nice about
Mitt? (Let the folks at
Operation Leper take note.)
(Cross-posted at
The Other McCain.)
