Messenger's first column deals with Blunt attacks on Nixon

Former Springfield News-Leader Editorial Page Editor Tony Messenger has wasted no time showing his new employers at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the kind of hard-hitting journalism that helped him make his name in Springfield and previously at the Columbia Tribune.

Messenger has already posted several scoops on the Post-Dispatch's Political Fix blog, and in his first column he addresses the recent attack campaign launched by Gov. Matt Blunt against Attorney General Jay Nixon:

When Blunt made the decision in January to drop out of the race against Nixon, he said he lacked a "mission" for a second term.

Apparently, the mission for the rest of this term is clear.

Attack Nixon. Attack Nixon. And, just for good measure, attack Nixon one more time.

And in the rest of his news releases, Blunt either is praising himself for something he did, or praising himself for something someone else did. Hopefully, in January 2009 we will have someone who comports himself or herself with a little more dignity.