Did Politico just refer to the Obama adminstration as a “pile of manure”?

Here's the lead from John Harris and Glenn Thrush:

Hillary Rodham Clinton has a favorite expression for turning setback into opportunity: “Bloom where you're planted.”

Her three-decade career on the public stage has produced countless examples of Clinton sprouting a flower in a pile of manure. Few of them are more vivid than this week's official announcement that she is the nominee to serve as secretary of state to Barack Obama.

How else would you read that?