Finally, Linda Chavez herself admitted that she wasn't as forthcoming on the Mercado situation as she could have been. That's issue Number Three and the one that brings in the Bush team's role. Confusion was tossed into the situation, false information was leaked as to when Chavez knew about the Mercado's status. Chavez probably didn't intentionally mislead anyone. Unfortunately, the omission made it difficult to give a full-throated defense, because the facts were being hastily brought in.
Conservatives know full well that a double-standard exists on their behavior.
That's just the environment in which we operate. The group Chavez brought forth on Tuesday, individuals she had helped over the years would have been ideal firepower for the transition team to point to had they all the information on Mercado ahead of time. After the story had already formed a narrative of its own, it was way too late. The Chavez saga is tragic. But hopefully, conservatives can draw lessons from it for future battles.