Lincoln Chafee

has carried lots of water for liberal Democrats over the years, but the Washington Post is playing for keeps this year. Hence, this special Post report entitled “Clawing for Votes, Chafee Steers Race Toward Gutter.” What did Chafee do to steer his race with former Rhode Island attorney general Sheldon Whitehouse to the gutter? He accused Whitehouse of not convicting public officials notwithstanding the well-documented political corruption that infects Rhode Island.
But accusing a public official who is trying to move up to a higher office of not properly performing the job he currently holds is not gutter politics unless the accusation is false, in which it’s just plain old lying. And the Post never shows that Chafee’s criticism that Whitehead has been soft on criminal activity by Democratic officials is false.
A better example of gutter politics is focusing on the religion of a candidate’s mother, something the Post did with aplomb in the Virginia Senate race.