The Washington Post's latest Maccaca follow-up shows off some poor journalism.

The Post's wrap-up of Senator George Allen's chances of winning re-election in '06 (could go either way) and the Presidency in '08 (highly unlikely) includes this gem of wisdom, from, well, someone.

"Allen's got to do two things that are very tough," said a GOP strategist outside Washington who spoke anonymously so he could talk more candidly about the senator's prospects. "Assuming he wins, he's got to get right in on the organizational side into four to eight states, he's got to raise money and he's got to put a team together."

Now, in the last year or so the major papers, especially the Post and the Times, have been catching flack for their liberal (no pun intended) use of anonymous sources, and both papers have promised to do better by only using anonymous sources to protect those who reveal sensitive information.

But this milquetoast quote tells us, well, nothing sensitive. This isn't candid, this is obvious. It could apply to anyone running for President in '08, including me. I've got to get my organization, my fundraising and my team together if I'm gonna make a run of this, guys.

Assuming this isn't just incompetence, this source probably talked about other, more sensitive topics elsewhere in the article, but I hardly think this piece of basic political strategery merited protecting this source. Either use the name or ask someone else--anyone else, frankly, is going to be able to make this pronouncement. In fact, if Post reporters need me to answer any basic questions, I'll be glad to field their queries ("If Allen's gonna win his Senate race, he's gonna need votes."). They can even use my name.

Tangentially, with Siddique's post on Time, I think we can make this into Media Criticism Sunday at CP.