Isn't it obvious?

Isn't it obvious? Ross has carefully crafted his comments on l'affaire Beauchamps because he's gunning for the TNR editorship after they can Foer. He can't afford to bash that rag too much, and yet can't very well look to be leaping to Foer's defense if he has any hope of being brought in to be the housecleaning white knight in the wake of the scandal.

Ross would be perfect: he's young (the average age of a new TNR editor-in-chief has been around 29 or 30 for some time now), he's been very adeptly playing the role of The Thoughtful Conservative Who Badly Wants To Be Liked By Liberals (a schtick pioneered by David Brooks and Christopher Caldwell), and he's ready for a promotion.

Context.