'Macaca' Man Works for Richardson; WashPost Says 'Alas,' No Stunts

December 1st, 2007 10:56 PM

As Sen. Jim Webb prepares for his Sunday interview on Meet the Press, let's note the well-placed word that demonstrates that The Washington Post still relishes the moment that young S.R. Sidarth first launched the "Macaca" boat. In a small Wednesday item reporting Sidarth now works for Bill Richardson for President, reporter Michael Shear -- who with Tim Craig beat every bush to spread alleged racial bigotry all over George Allen's face -- displayed his opinion by saying "Alas," young Sidarth "is not reprising the role" of opposition camcorder agent.

Here's most of Shear's small item:

Remember "macaca"?

The young man whose video helped bring down former senator George Allen of Virginia has resurfaced in the presidential contest that Allen once hoped to be part of.

S.R. Sidarth, a Fairfax student of Indian descent, is now a paid staff member in the communications office of Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson. He works in the New Mexico governor's Santa Fe office compiling newspaper articles, drafting news releases and performing other communications tasks.

Alas, he is not reprising the role of a volunteer "tracker" he played in James Webb's Senate campaign, when he shadowed Allen with a video camera, hoping to catch the Republican in an unguarded moment. It was Allen's dismissive comment about Sidarth -- "Say hello to macaca, or whatever his name is" -- that helped to doom Allen's reelection bid in 2006.

Also on the WashPost website, AP reporter Beth Fouhy struck up the Macaca band in reporting on the new "Flipper TV" website to expose Republicans. (That's a strange name, considering the flip-flopping John Kerry and now the flip-flopping Hillary Clinton are DNC headaches.) The dispatch began:

Could a "macaca" moment doom Republicans once more? The Democrats apparently hope so and have created a new Web site to help make it happen.

The Democratic National Committee set up http://www.democrats.org/flippertv to post amateur video of the leading Republican presidential contenders as they campaign around the country. Videos there can be downloaded, viewed and even manipulated by voters, who might want to create their own campaign ads to post online.

The Democrats hope that viewers might spot unvarnished moments that were missed by mainstream news organizations.

Fouhy should have written: "The Democrats hope that viewers might spot moments that were missed by mainstream news organizations -- so the news media can rewind and jump all over them after Democratic urging."