Earlier, Eric Boehlert pointed out the silliness of David Broder's description of the Tea Partiers and Ronald Reagan as a “populist.” Broder's lack of perspective is perhaps inevitable, as it seems he based his entire column on the views of a single American Enterprise Institute writer.

Broder's column comes in at fewer than 600 words, but that's enough space for him to introduce Henry Olsen of AEI, refer to an article Olsen wrote, indicate that he interviewed Olsen, quote Olsen half a dozen times, and paraphrase him a few more. There is no indication that Broder talked to anyone else or conducted any research other than reading Olsen's paper and interviewing him. In short, it isn't entirely clear why Broder's byline appears on the piece rather than Olsen's, perhaps with an “as-told-to” credit for Broder.

Remind me again how David Broder got his “best of the best” reputation?