Washington's other newspaper intrudes upon Totalitarian Pennsylvania's race for governor.

In typical WaPo fashion, it is a steaming pile of nonsense by Mark Leibovich.

It starts out trying to smear Lynn Swann by mentioning his record of ballet classes. And we all know what that implies, don't we? Swann is at one point described as "prancing" into a room. This sort of "journalism" is evident throughout the piece.

Want some more evidence of WaPo homophobia? (I know. It is not really a word. But if you want to communicate with them, sometimes you must lower your standards.) Hint: Microphones (and almost everything else) are phallic symbols to those sensitive to such things.

As Swann concludes his speech in Manheim, Zimmer breaks in and leads the 100 or so people in the room in a surprise rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" for Swann, who turned 54 a few days earlier.

"Happy birthdayyyy, Mr. Governor ," Zimmer croons, pressing his mouth against the microphone in something of a low-rent version of Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday" to President Kennedy.

Here's my favorite part:

"People tend to hold people to much higher standards if they are running for president or governor," says G. Terry Madonna, a director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. "If someone gets elected to Congress, and he turns out to be a whack job, so what? There's 435 people there."

Ah, yes...G. "Whiz" Terry Madonna, another embarrassment for old Mama Italia. This clown started out at a third rate school and since he was the only PoliSci professor in Pennsylvania who would return their calls, the antique media made him a star. Now he works at a second rate school.

Note how he equates Mr. Swann with mental illness in the paragraph above. Yo, G.! What's up with that? Talk about whack!

Memo To G. Terry: Sit down, shut up, and teach a class once in a while, you lamebrain.

Oh, yeah. The article is also racist. Everyone must be reminded that Swann is a black man in the white man's party and therefore a traitor to his people.

Perhaps the most important early test for a candidate is whether he is serious about winning. This is the first thing Swann addresses, and without prompting. With every person and group he meets, Swann says, "I want them to understand that I'm in this to win. People need to understand that. I'm not out there to put a good face for the Republican Party."

The subtext is unmistakable: Most Republican candidates don't have faces like Swann's.

If you want to wade through the whole thing, look here.