Drudge: Déjà vu all over again

Remember when Newt Gingrich was peaking in the polls and a panicked establishment threw everything they could at Newt to make sure Mitt Romney was the winner of the Republican nomination for president?  Do you recall Matt Drudge, long a conservative news source being preeminent among Gingrich's attackers? No?  Below is a quick reminder of what happened to Gingrich, because it's started to happen again to Rick Santorum.

Drudge: Casting any and all contenders in an unfriendly light. This time, Santorum.

Via Newsmax on January 26th:

The Drudge Report became the target of furious conservatives Thursday as they vented about what they claim is a planned attack on Newt Gingrich, The New York Times reports.

Matt Drudge's conservative website, which posted huge, screaming headlines about Gingrich, prompted the former House speaker's supporters to accuse Drudge of selling out to the Republican establishment, the Times reported.

Among the comments posted on social media sites, according to the Times:

Ana Beavenhouser, whose Twitter profile says that she is “so right wing, my symbol is not the elephant … it is the WOOLY MAMMOTH!!” posted on Twitter: Where the hell was all this effort into “exposing” a candidate when #obama was running? #Drudge is officially irrelevant now!

Many accused Drudge of joining other media to keep Gingrich from becoming the GOP nominee.

 Next up, Rick Santorum.  Romney is in trouble in Michigan and Santorum is also surging in Arizona.  The establishment might be in full blown panic mode, which is good.  But what is surprising is Drudge risking becoming seen as an establishment tool, or part of the establishment, just to support a seriously flawed candidate.  It doesn't make sense.  Yet there are not 1, 2 or 3 but 5 headline level stories about Santorum.

If Drudge believes, as do many Romney supporters do, that Mitt Romney is the only electable candidate that's one thing.  But making a case does not include a scorched earth policy towards the rest of the Republican field.

It's an indictment against Romney supporters and Romney as well, that they don't seem to be aware of Reagan's 11th commandment (Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican).  If you call yourself a Republican and you condone, commit or silently allow a negative firestorm against your opponent, you aren't following Reagan's 11th commandment.  And if you aren't doing that, and you've called yourself a progressive - you don't belong in the Republican party.