Among the many good points in Jeff Lord’s morning blog post on the Delaware Republican primary is one implication that lacks some context. Namely, Lord suggests that John McCormack’s Weekly Standard reporting on the conservative candidate Christine O’Donnell is a “hit piece” and that McCormack is to be blamed for the lack of muckraking done on the liberal Republican Mike Castle. 

Most likely while working on assignment, McCormack dug up some damaging facts about O’Donnell. That the article weakens O’Donnell’s candidacy is O’Donnell’s fault, not McCormack’s. 

Maybe McCormack could have looked into Castle’s record and found some similar misdeeds and scandals. Think about it, though, from the perspective of a Weekly Standard reporter. Why bother? We already know what Castle is: a liberal Republican, bound to support bills like cap and trade that are in themselves scandals. 

McCormack’s credentials as a non-“Beltway,” non-“establishment” conservative are not really in doubt. It’s regrettable that his reporting might boost Castle’s profile by making O’Donnell look bad, but don’t blame him — he’s only the messenger.