JOURNALISTS CONFUSED - IS JERI THOMPSON A DUMB BIMBO OR AN EVIL GENIUS?

The slow transition from "Jeri Thompson is a bimbo" through "isn't it totally weird how lots of people may or may not think Jeri Thompson is a bimbo" to "Jeri Thompson is an evil genius" is almost complete:

The most obvious heir to a position of Karl Rove-like influence is Mark Penn, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's top political adviser... On the Republican side, Jeri Thompson, wife of former senator Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee, has become controversial because of her heavy involvement in the day-to-day operations of her husband's potential campaign despite having relatively little political experience.

You can see the tension - is she an interfering wench or the next leftist Darth Vader photoshop? It depends on how well the Thompson campaign does. If the left can't explain Thompson's popularity (because why would anyone support Republicans?), the meme will slide to "evil genius". If the Thompson campaign flounders, the ostensible progressives on the left will be more than happy to settle for "see, we told you she was a sorority girl gender traitor bimbo". Seething and resentful hypocrisy - always in fashion.

[Cross-posted to Mere Rhetoric]