The Van Jones factor

For a defense of Van Jones, take a look at this blog from Arianna Huffington. She makes a strange argument (he's better out of the White House where he can be really, really effective for left-wing Americans). By that, she means he can advocate for his extreme positions out in the open, instead of in private meetings with the president. Weird, no?

Unwittingly, however, Arianna puts her finger on one of the things that most hurt the Obama administration over the Van Jones deal. How in the world did a radical, race-baiting, communist like this find his way into a position of power in the White House? Will someone in the national media please press the president on this? It is impossible to believe that the president didn't know all about the real Van Jones. As Arianna points out, he's a well-known "progressive" thinker who was blogging for her from the beginning. The conclusions that most Americans will come to is that President Obama secretly harbors some of the same thoughts as Van Jones, as perhaps the president does with his black separatist pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, or his terrorist bomber buddy, Bill Ayers.

Also, from a purely Nevada perspective, Sen. Harry Reid better hope Arianna is wrong. The last thing he needs is an unchained Van Jones who is MORE vocal about his fringe political thought. Jones came to Las Vegas in August and praised Reid for his "green jobs" endeavors. They toured facilities together and posed for many-a friendly "news" photo.

It won't be a point-of-no-return moment for the Reid campaign (there is still a long time before election day and he is a very hard campaigner with big bucks), but it's another unforced error that an opponent can emphasize to make Sen. Reid seem completely out of touch with Nevada.

Has Harry Reid lived inside the Beltway so long, I can hear the campaign ad say, that a guy who thinks like Van Jones now appears mainstream to the senator?