Novak claims GOP voters have high standards, which still doesn't explain Patrick McHenry

"Republicans are always held to a higher standard by their own voters," asserts Bob Novak in his latest insider newsletter, adding that GOP voters "tend to place special value on family issues."

In making the claim whilst comparing wickdippin' Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to the "embattled" Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat, Novak doesn't explain how such high Republican voter standards could've let Vitter into office in the first place. After all, as Novak himself writes, "this is not the first time Vitter's morals have been called into question," including during his run for the Senate. "His enemies brought up old accusations that he had had a year-long affair with a prostitute in the French Quarter of New Orleans," says Novak, adding that "tales about Vitter's behavior abound in Louisiana."

This so-called "higher standard" Novak associates with GOP voters also seemed to have been waived while Republicans kept lowlifes like Newt Gingrich, Dan Burton, Tom DeLay, Richard Pombo, John Doolittle, Tom Feeney etc. in positions of power.

"Democrats will have lots of fun with this," Novak cynically declares. "They may not be able to win the governor's race, but they could make it more competitive by using Vitter to embarrass Jindal." Not sure I understand this; from what I've heard, Bobby Jindal is a good man and a worthy candidate to govern Louisiana. Why would Democrats engage in such sordid political shenanigans? Oh, I forgot; this is Louisiana we're talking about.

Novak also humorously reveals his own ridiculously low standards by asserting, quite soberly, that Sen. Vitter "cannot step down right now even if he wants to, because he would be replaced by a Democrat." Egad. Better to leave an ineffective serial adulterer in office than have a Democrat replace him!

And speaking of ineffective, the biggest waste of space in Congress, Rep. Patrick McHenry, for the second week in a row gets a consoling shoulder to cry on from Novak. McHenry, who somehow keeps getting re-elected even though he's constantly making a fool of himself, hilariously lost an earmark vote in the House recently after having ripped Democrats for their own earmark bills. "Democrats punished McHenry with a vindictive chuckle," sympathizes Novak. Curiously, he notes that "searches of Lexis-Nexis and Google News suggest that no one -- and we mean absolutely no one -- has picked up on the story of [McHenry] and the embarrassing fight he lost to keep an earmark in his district." Hm, maybe Bob oughta check out that fancy new gadget called the blogosphere, where the story was duly noted last week.

GOP quietly giddy about New Orleans' black diaspora

So Bob Novak snidely suggests in his latest political report.  Talking about upcoming US Senate races, Novak has this to say about Louisiana, which he feels is the GOP's "best pickup opportunity" in 2008:

Republicans were already on the upswing here before Hurricane Katrina, and at the local level, the villains in the story of Katrina were nearly all Democrats. The election of 2007 could be promising for Republicans at the state level.

If Rep. Bobby Jindal (R) wins the race for governor this fall -- and indications are that he will -- then the governor and one senator will be Republicans. Of course part of the thinking, voiced publicly by no one, is that the state's black population in New Orleans largely disappeared with Hurricane Katrina, significantly diminishing the base vote for Landrieu.

Gotta love those Acts of God, especially when the Lord smiles on the Grand Old Party and smites the swarthy sons of Canaan.  My question is, who would be so cynical, so selfish and indifferent, that they'd consider the still-suffering Big Easy as an opportunity to be exploited politically?  Whose shameless "thinking" is this?

Perhaps subtly answering these questions, Novak writes in his very next line, "There is no obvious GOP candidate ready to step forward. White House advisor Karl Rove has been urging..." (snip)

Of course, Karl Rove!  The master spinner himself who--unlike his boss in the Oval Office--isn't afraid to flaunt his detachment from, and glaring insensitivity to, black people.  Novak underscores this with a most telling parapraxis in his final sentence on the matter; read into what you will: "No one will be worrying too much about this race until after the governor's race is over."