Matthew Sheffield's item on Ben Cardin's staffer with the slurs is buried on Page C-6 of the Sunday Washington Post, described as a minor case of the blogger "stumbles." But George Allen's off-hand use of the word "Macaca" is on the front page again today, albeit in restrained form, not explicitly using the mysterious M-word. Michael Shear's article on the role of bloggers in the Virginia Senate contest began this way:
Virginia's U.S. Senate race has catapulted bloggers into the middle of electioneering and controversy as campaign supporters use their online forums to connect with voters, raise money and spread gossip. Liberal bloggers -- two of whom are on the payroll of Democratic challenger James Webb -- fanned the flames last month after Sen. George Allen aimed a derogatory remark at a young Webb volunteer. That hype has helped Webb close a double-digit Allen lead in public polls and was a blow to the Republican senator's possible presidential bid in 2008.
At least Shear used the word "liberal," even if sentences later, he refers to pro-Allen bloggers hired to counter "what they call liberal attacks." The Virginia Senate race is on Page C-6 as well, with 'Macaca' leading the parade. Shear began that story:
Virginia's U.S. Senate candidates will debate twice in the next two days, the first time they have faced each other since George Allen's "macaca" gaffe turned the race into a close, increasingly nasty affair.
Shear mentions "Macaca" in several other paragraphs as well, including underlining how Allen has a "disastrous August" (he didn't mention the Post's obsession with the gaffe).
