Huh?

Reynolds links to Rich Lowry's piece today and writes:

RICH LOWRY savages John Ashcroft for his hypocrisy on campaign-finance reform.

Not quite. Lowry is blasting the Administration for not vetoing legislation that it believes to be unconstitutional, thereby putting Ashcroft (who opposed it as unconstitutional as a Senator) in the uncomfortable position of defending the legislation as the law of the land if it passes.

Lowry is savaging the Administration for its hypocrisy, not Ashcroft. Indeed, Ashcroft was confirmed by the Senate with the understanding that he would, on occasion, defend and enforce laws that he personally opposes. Bush ultimately decides what legislation to veto, and if he backtracks on his campaign rhetoric and declines to veto this legislation, he'll be the hypocrite.

[Posted at 12:21 CST on 02/25/02] [Link]