He wrote "the Crist crisis is a whole new level of Jacobin excess; in the case of [Joe] Lieberman, Democrats at least waited until he lost the primary to purge him. Not so the Republicans, who are in a dogmatic race to the bottom as they drop Crist for his far-right challenger, Marco Rubio."
But how did Milbank characterize Ned Lamont, Lieberman's far-left challenger? He never used that label in the Post. Like many other liberal media scribes, he merely called him "antiwar."
On July 23, 2006, for example: "His prospects about as stable as a tunnel beneath Boston, Joe Lieberman falls behind antiwar primary challenger Ned Lamont in Connecticut poll as Washington colleagues distance themselves."
Or try September 7, 2006: "Harry Truman's famous adage -- If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog -- has never been truer. After Lieberman was vanquished by antiwar candidate Ned Lamont in last month's primary, 40 of the 45 members of the Senate Democratic caucus abandoned their longtime colleague and their party's former vice presidential nominee. In this town, partisanship is thicker than friendship."
Here is the "wrap your arms around Crist" passage, in reference to his politically damaging hug of Obama:
Crist has until April 30 to decide if he's going to abandon his hopeless Republican primary bid and instead run for the Senate as an independent. Those of us who still hope that some measure of sanity can be restored to our absurdly polarized political system must wrap our arms around Crist -- metaphorically, of course -- and encourage him to run as an independent.
The crucifixion of Crist by Republican leaders says less about him than it does about the party. Both parties have been undergoing ideological cleansing, as Sens. Arlen Specter (forced out of the GOP in Pennsylvania) and Blanche Lincoln (facing a Democratic primary challenge in Arkansas) can attest.
Now Milbank has left the field of opinion and is making up his own facts. Specter wasn't "forced out." Just like Lincoln, he was facing a primary challenger. When the polls looked bad, he switched parties. That's not "forced out," unless the pollsters forced it. Milbank also said he was a "purging" victim:
The only reason a far-right candidate such as Rubio is competitive at all is because this year heavily favors Republicans. In a normal election year -- 2012, perhaps -- Republicans will rue their purging of the Crists and Specters who could have kept them competitive.
Win or lose, an independent Crist candidacy would remind Republican leaders that ideological cleansing has a cost. That's why Crist should be encouraged to run. Hug him if you wish, kiss him if you must, but show Charlie Crist some love.
But notice Milbank only opposed one party's "cleansing." He noticeably failed to encourage people to show Blanche Lincoln some love in her race against left-wing challengers.
