NR’s Ramesh Ponnuru was on a Blitzerless Situation Room today debating Democratic strategist Paul Begala. As Jonah Goldberg has pointed out, this isn’t really fair. Ponnuru is a conservative before he is a Republican, and willing to criticize Republicans where they deserve it (on the Miers nomination, for instance). Begala is an advocate for the Democrats, right or wrong. Just watch the clip and you’ll see what I mean. Of course, Ponnuru held is own, but what came across was a conservative rightly criticizing the Republican party and a Democrat pitching his party’s talking points.
Usually The Situation Room has been good about pairing strategists like Begala with their counterparts in the GOP like Rich Galen. They should stick to that scheme and pair writers like Ponnuru with other writers, like E.J. Dionne or Dana “Twitchy Brows” Milbank.
Video here.