Does Criticism by the Sons of Confederate Veterans Help a Politician?

A very interesting article in the Washington Post argues that the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) did George Allen and Virginia Gov. R. F. McDonnell a favor by very publicly criticizing them. The article asserts that by being criticized by the SCV both Allen and McDonnell look good. McDonnell after his problem with declaring a Confederate history month and Allen with his image problems over the infamous "macaca" incident will find criticism invaluable to rehabilitate their images.

This is the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/20/AR2011012005399.html?sid=ST2011012005534

This again shows that there has been a real shift in public opinion against the Confederacy and so-called Confederate "heritage."

I suspect that the SCV believes their own propaganda in the "Southern Mercury" that they caused the defeat of many politicians who didn't favor Confederate symbols.